


Trial by Error

by Demonized



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Wordcount: Over 50.000
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-07
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2017-11-18 04:36:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 61,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/556971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demonized/pseuds/Demonized
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sacrifice is made to ensure that both Ace and Luffy escape Marineford and a promise is kept.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Legend Brought Down! Shanks Appears!

**Author's Note:**

> I have this posted on FF.net under Opinionated Asmodeus, who is me. There are two minor edits, typo fixes really, to this posting of the chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: Oda Eiichiro owns One Piece. I am not Oda Eiichiro.

Despite the fact that Gol D. Roger was Ace's biological father, the logia user would always be a member of the Monkey family. Garp had never felt anything less for Ace and had always shown him the same love he showed to Luffy, including his well-known _"Fist of Love."_ Even before his own reckless grandchild had been born Ace had held a place in his heart.

That Sengoku had allowed for Ace to be used to spark a war against _Whitebeard_ , of all the pirates in the world, made him seriously reconsider quite a few things. Resigning from the Marines, for one, was looking to be more favorable by the second, especially if his foolish grandchildren made it out of the war alive. Ever since Ace had been given to him he had been thinking of resigning, and now with Luffy thrown into the fray it was an idea he was going to go through with.

He would no longer be at odds with them, forever chasing them down and cursing the fact that they had chosen to live as pirates; and if those two stuck together, which he was quite sure that Luffy wasn't going to be letting Ace out of his sight ever again, then he wouldn't have to worry about them as much.

Boy, did he worry about them. They were definitely Ds down to their cores.

They would be there to look out for each other, and hopefully nothing like this would ever happen again. He couldn't bear the thought of losing one of them, let alone both of them, to the corruption that was the Navy and the World Government.

Garp stood up from the rubble and watched as his precious grandchildren fled the still crumbling Marineford, courtesy of that wily Edward Newgate. He started to grin with pride as they made it halfway across the plaza, the former Shichibukai known as Jinbei closely following them, but a sense of foreboding overcame him and he started after them. His instincts were right on the money when Sakazuki began to insult Whitebeard, which was sure to antagonize Ace into attacking him.

The grin was replaced by a scowl as Ace stopped in his escape to turn and face Sakazuki. _'That foolish brat!'_ It was exactly what the Admiral had wanted of him and there was no way that Ace even stood a chance against the Magu Magu no Mi user. It was proof enough when Ace's hand ended up burned by Sakazuki's Magma Fist and it had him moving faster toward the fight.

Garp saw Sakazuki's intent before Ace did and right as his eldest grandson moved to intercept the blow meant for Luffy he made his own move, not even thinking to use Busou-shoku Haki. The looks of shock on their faces was more than he cared for, but his boys... his boys were now safe. It was all that mattered to him, and he was glad that he could keep the promise he had made all of those years ago.

"Ace... Luffy, my boys." Garp grinned despite the pain of having a molten fist through his torso, making it obvious that it didn't bother him in the least. Even when the fist was withdrawn he didn't flinch, his gaze staying focused on his grandsons. Luffy, who was well beyond his limits, had started to tremble, tears appearing in his eyes as realization of what had just happened set in.

"J-Jii-chan!" Luffy was clutching Ace's Vivre card, his lower lip quivering as the tears fell from his wide and innocent eyes. Ace was sprawled on the ground next to him, where Garp had pushed him out of the way so that Luffy's efforts wouldn't have been in vain.

"Ace, Luffy. Promise me that you will live!" He kept his voice firm as he gave his grandchildren a scowl, the Mera Mera no Miuser returning it with a scowl of his own and unshed tears. "Promise me!" A nod was given to him from each of them and with the last of his strength he grabbed each of them by the forearm and threw them as hard as he could in the direction of the escaping Whitebeard Pirates. "Now live!"

Garp grinned in triumphant success as his body succumbed to the pain and he dropped to his knees. Marines surrounded him and a medic was called to give him treatment, even though it was already too late. As the last of his life slipped away he heard that the Yonkou Shanks had arrived at Marineford from one of the nearby Marines. Now he could be at peace, knowing his grandchildren would be safe with that man around.

-TbE-

Marineford was in utter chaos when Shanks arrived through the Gates of Justice. The battles were not only vicious, but already he could tell that many had died and more were still dying. As their ship practically snuck up on the war still waging on Shanks noticed that the Supernova Trafalgar Law had managed to sneak in as well. What the Death Surgeon was doing there was beyond him, but there was no doubt that his medical skills could be used to aid the wounded pirates.

A glow was coming from atop the mast of a ship, meaning that Admiral Kizaru was preparing to attack someone, and from what he could tell it was Law's submarine. At that moment, however, a voice shouted out loud enough for everyone to hear, "That's enough!" and everything went to a standstill. Kizaru powered down his attack and the killing ground to an abrupt halt.

Standing between the Whitebeard Pirates and Sakazuki was a young, pink-haired Marine, his arms outspread. Tears were streaming down his bruised and battered face as he fought for breath and searched for the words that would hopefully end this slaughter.

"A Marine?" Law was the first to break the dead silence, even if no one but his crew could hear him, and to express his confusion at the situation. Everyone else was equally confused at Coby's sudden outburst and they all waited to see how it would unfold.

Sakazuki was pissed to say the least and his gaze shifted down from the Whitebeard Pirates he was ready to kill to Coby. He looked quite unimpressed by the late Garp's upstart subordinate and was getting the urge to put the brat in his place.

"Coby!"

"Stop, already! All of this fighting, just end it!" Coby sobbed out, his form quivering beneath Sakazuki's fierce gaze. Still, he pushed on and let the words pour out from him, even as a pirate questioned, "What's with him?"

"We're throwing people's lives away! Even though every single soldier has a family waiting for them to return!" The tears fell faster as he held his ground, the words flowing faster than he could process them. "Even though we've already accomplished our goal!" Hadn't it been enough that Whitebeard was now dead? Garp had even given his own life to save that of Ace's and he had looked up to the man as though he were a father.

"We keep chasing pirates who don't want to fight, drawing out a battle that should already be over..." Instead it was the mindless slaughter of both sides as the pirates made their retreat. "and abandoning soldiers who could be saved if we treat their wounds now!" How many had died because they hadn't gotten immediate treatment? Coby couldn't even count the number of voices that had disappeared in his head.

"And still, we're sacrificing even more people!" What sort of justice was this? This hadn't been what he had in mind when he had wanted to join the Marines. He had been willing to die for his ideals, but this was nowhere close to matching up with what he believed in! "What about the soldiers who will fall after this?! We're making them look like idiots!"

"Huh? Who are you?" Sakazuki finally moved, looking more irritated now because his prey had escaped him. "You've wasted several seconds of my time. The Navy has no use for soldiers who aren't righteous!"

Coby looked absolutely frightened at that and his body began to shake even more as the realization that he would probably die settled in. The boy seemed frozen in place, yet he showed no regret for what he had said, even as Sakazuki raised a molten fist to strike him down.

In that split second Shanks made his move, blocking the attack that would have taken the young Marine's life. The red-haired Yonkou held his Haki-imbued sword in place, keeping all of Sakazuki's magma from reaching Coby. The boy fainted and dropped to the ground right as Shanks praised him. "You did well, young Marine. You risked your life to create a brief moment of courage..." Precious seconds that had given him the time he needed to reach the ice where the standoff had been taking place. "For better or worse, that has greatly changed the fate of the world."

Coby's courageous words had given Law enough time to have the heavily injured Luffy and Ace moved down into the lower levels of his submarine where they could begin their treatment. It was also enough time for his men to have positioned themselves to keep the Marines in check as Benn Beckman proved when he momentarily stopped Kizaru from attacking the yellow submersible.

The Marines started to panic when they realized that the Yonkou was in their midst and watched in terror as he sheathed his sword to walk across the ice. He stopped when he reached the all too familiar Straw Hat that he had inherited from Gol D. Roger, and in turn had given to Luffy. Shanks bent down and picked up the treasured item, his fingers lightly stroking the woven straw. "I've come to end this war!"


	2. The War Ends! Perilous Escape from Marineford!

Silence reigned over the battlefield at the declaration made by the Yonkou. No one dared challenge him, not even the not so inconspicuous Buggy who hovered high above the ground to make a getaway of his own. It was the blue-haired pirate's indignation at Shanks having caused such a spectacular scene that drew the attention of nearby pirates and Marines alike to him. Buggy blamed it on Shanks of course, who had to respond to him. The Yonkou even had the nerve to give him an order! It was Luffy's own fault if he lost that stupid straw hat that had been rather synonymous with the Red-haired pirate up until he had given it to Luffy.

Why the damned hat was so important was beyond him, but Buggy had delivered it to Trafalgar Law's submersible with a little of complaining. He had every right to complain over the trivial task after everything he had gone through in this brief war between Whitebeard and his allies and the Marines. It had been his moment to shine and he had lost it! Not that he had ever had an actual moment to shine from the start of this war. The escaped Impel Down prisoners were far too gullible if they had thought that he would have been able to kill Whitebeard. Maybe he could sneak away with Shanks.

-TbE-

Law had Luffy's unconscious and heavily injured body brought down to his operating theater while Ace was conducted to the crew's cabin with some struggle. The Death Surgeon made it quite clear that Luffy was in no condition to be bothered, even by the brother he had fought so hard to save, and that he was in great need of immediate surgery. The polar-bear looking person, whose name Ace hadn't caught and couldn't care about, had given the Mera Mera no Mi user some salves and bandages for his minor wounds. After that was done he was left alone in the cabin while an alarm started to blare. A red light above the door flashed as the submersible lurched to one side in its escape from the rapidly growing ice that was being controlled by Aokiji.

The yellow submersible dodged and dove deeper into the water as it headed straight for the Gates of Justice. The ice stopped once they were far enough away, though it was more likely that Aokiji had stopped giving chase to them than sheer luck. Ace wasn't thinking about any of that, the battle now far behind him, but certainly not out of mind. He had that tucked away in the back of his mind. Right now he was focused on Luffy, who was no doubt in the midst of a very delicate surgery. Even though he couldn't be there for his little brother, and probably not do anything for him physically, there was always the option of prayer.

Now Ace wasn't exactly a religious person, so to speak, but Luffy would need a miracle to pull through this time. "You idiot... You better not die, Luffy." He had been so ready to give up his own life in exchange for Luffy's, despite the promise that he wouldn't ever die. It had been rather foolish of him to make such a hard-to-keep promise, one that his simple-minded little brother would definitely hold him to. "Kami-sama, please save my brother." Somehow he found himself on his knees as he prayed for Luffy's survival, oblivious to the slight creak of the cabin door. Ace did, however, hear the muffled footsteps of the polar-bear creature, but continued on in his prayer to a God he was hoping that was listening.

A familiar yellow straw hat with a red ribbon was set down in front of the logia user, and it brought tears to his eyes to see a bloodstained piece of paper tucked behind the ribbon. Ace reached out with trembling hands and picked up the straw hat that was older than him. The hat was in pretty good condition, even with the neatly stitched slices going through the top of it, and it was obvious that Luffy greatly treasured it. He ran his fingers along the edge of the brim and rotated that hat until his Vivre Card was in full view. The little scrap of paper was pulled out from behind the ribbon and he balled it up in his hand as he became choked up with emotion. Luffy had nearly been killed over this, over him, and he still wasn't even out of danger! Ace could very well lose his little brother, and it would be his fault.

Had he listened to Whitebeard and his Nakama...surely none of this would have happened. He wouldn't have gotten caught by Teach and thrown into Impel Down. Luffy wouldn't have risked his life breaking into both the prison and Marineford. Garp wouldn't have... Garp wouldn't have sacrificed himself to save him and Luffy. Sakazuki's blow would have surely killed him, despite his logia powers, and it would have happened right in front of Luffy. Ace wasn't sure how much the younger pirate would be affected by Garp's death, but he was sure that his own would break the boy's mind and spirit outright. Especially after what had happened to Sabo.

A wave of guilt washed through the logia user as he recalled his childhood. He had been so mean to Luffy the first few weeks...well, the first few months to be honest. It hadn't been until he had been caught by Porchemy and brutally tortured had he actually started to care about the younger pirate. He had been so sure that Luffy would tell Porchemy where their hidden treasure was, but the brat had withstood hours of being beaten. It was from that point on that he had seen Luffy in a different, but still very annoying, light. Luffy was his brother, his everything, and he couldn't stand the thought that Luffy was dying because of him.

"I don't know Mugiwara-ya very well, but I know he wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over this." Law took a seat adjacent to the chair Ace was kneeling at, his expression unreadable. He let the logia user hastily wipe away his tears and move to sit in the seat as he tried to forget the last several hours of extensive surgery. The rubbery nuisance had managed to make a complete mess of his insides, and telling Ace as much would make the fire user that much more distraught. "I managed to get him stabilized, but he's still in critical condition." And would be for a while. Law did relay the information that they were heading to Amazon Lily, where Luffy would be safest while he recovered.

Ace hadn't noticed it when they had stopped because of Boa Hancock's serpent Salome. Nor had he noticed the submersible rising to the surface. He had been out of it for quite a while when he had been dwelling on what was now the past. "How long will it take for us to reach Amazon Lily?" That Luffy had somehow managed to woo the Pirate Empress wasn't news to him. She had been head over heels for his little brother when she had come to visit him in Impel Down. Not only had she helped Luffy break into the prison she had helped him to reach the execution scaffold by attacking the Marines. Well, she had attacked any man that wasn't Luffy, but that was the point.

"We'll be there in a few days' time." Law let his thoughts drift from the topic on hand, his gaze growing distant as he recalled his crew's surprise when they had learned of his intentions. They had been eager to go to the New World, and it was irksome that Kid had gotten a head start on him, but something had compelled him to go to Marineford. The enigmatic Straw Hat had to be part of the reason, but Law certainly didn't want to think of it like that. The young captain was dangerous to be around, what with declaring open war against the World Government at Enies Lobby, punching a Tenryuubito, breaking into and out of Impel Down and last of all keeping Fire Fist Ace from being executed by the Marines. Mugiwara also had the extremely dangerous ability to befriend almost anyone, as proven by his diverse Nakama and his allies, both known and unknown.

"Can I go see him?" Ace's expression became hopeful, and when Law nodded in consent there was a trace of happiness in his eyes. The Surgeon wasn't going to keep him from seeing his brother now that Luffy was stable. "He won't be waking up for a while, but he doesn't need to be touched or moved. If those wounds reopen he will die." The finality of Law's tone had Ace pausing as he got up and went to the door. The logia user said nothing, couldn't think of anything to say to that, and left to go visit his little brother. Law glanced at the straw hat that had been left behind, a crumpled Vivre Card next to it, and wondered if he needed to worry about his crew being endangered. Mugiwara was a magnet for trouble.


	3. Luffy and Ace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace falls victim to his own self neglect and Luffy awakens.

He couldn't help but to silently berate himself as he watched machines keep his little brother alive. It was his fault, as he had told himself many time before, that Luffy was in such a condition. His fault that the happy-go-lucky boy was reduced to such a helpless state, barely cling to life and so very vulnerable. It was his duty to protect Luffy, always had been, yet he had failed.

When Jinbe had pried him, very literally, from Luffy's bedside and out into the fresh air of Amazon Lily's forest he had exploded into a fit of rage. He needed to be there for his brother when he woke up! Needed to be there to protect him and comfort him! Most of all, he needed to be there-

"Enough, Ace-kun!" Jinbe wasn't holding back with his punches, and sent Ace through a few trees. "How would Luffy-kun feel if he knew you were killing yourself over him!" That got to him. Jinbe knew it would, unlike the other methods he had tried since he himself had recovered from his own injuries. They hadn't been as extensive as Luffy's, but they had been grievous enough in their own right. "You haven't slept, and you've barely eaten anything since Marineford!"

That had been two weeks ago. Ace was running on empty and hadn't even noticed. Luffy would be... Oh god. Luffy would be furious. It was a surprise his narcolepsy hadn't kicked in at all for those two weeks, so he really hadn't gotten any sleep, and the angry rumble of his stomach would be nothing compared to Luffy's anger at him not eating. That boy never missed a meal if he could help it, so completely forgetting to eat was almost the equivalent of a sin.

Ace stumbled over his own feet as he stood, and gratefully accepted Jinbe's extended hand. He slumped against the Fishman, his exhaustion setting in, and succumbed to his body's need to rest. Food could come later, when he was much more rested. Just as he slipped into unconsciousness there was an ominous explosion from the direction of Law's ship, followed by the familiar yell of "AAACCCE!"

* * *

Where was he? Where was his brother?! They had been there, together at Marineford! He could remember fighting his way to the scaffold, where his brother had been chained, like a dog. He remembered freeing his brother, with Three-san's help and then they had been running. They were trying to escape! Only, he had been so tired. It hurt, and he couldn't move anymore. Akainu tried to attack them. The Admiral had hurt Ace! And Luffy had dropped to his knees. He had dropped Ace's Vivre Card. His brother had given it to him in Alabasta. It had led him to Ace. He couldn't lose it. It was just out of his reach. His fingertips barely caught its edges. Why did he have such trouble seeing?

"LUFFY!"

Ace was rushing towards him and Akainu punched. The fist was made of molten magma, and there was Ace... He couldn't remember more, his head hurt. Where was Ace?! He broke the machines, destroyed the walls. The war was gone. Marineford was gone. A familiar island greeted him, but there was no Ace.

"AAACCCE!"

He yelled. People were already scrambling around on deck to see what was going on. He didn't know them. Didn't recognize them from Sabaody. All he cared about was finding Ace. Where was his brother!?

"Be careful! Calm down,  _Mugiwara_!"

"Where are you going?! Don't go wild on us! Fire Fist is..."

No! He wasn't dead! He wasn't! "AAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHERE'S ACE?!" He couldn't be dead! "ACE!"

And there was Jinbe, running to him. A familiar body was slung over the Fishman's shoulder, a bold purple and white mark on the unblemished tan back. Ace's pride and joy. He wasn't dead... Couldn't have been. He was right there, slung over Jinbe's shoulder, so he was alive. He had to be alive. That terrible dream had to be wrong.

"Luffy-kun!" Jinbe was in front of him now, and Ace was carefully being laid out on the grass. His chest was moving, even if the motion was shallow, and such relief washed through him. It felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Ace-kun is fine." Exhausted and famished, but otherwise fine. Jinbe said nothing of Ace's self-inflicted condition, something the logia user would surely want to inform his brother of on his own.

Luffy, as injured as he still was, scooted over to his unconscious brother and pulled Ace up onto his lap. He all but clung to him, as if he were his only lifeline in the vast seas of their planet, and the tears freely flowed. He had thought that Ace had truly been killed, and Ace was his most precious person, so losing him would have been more than devastating. It would have crushed his will, no doubt, and he probably would have given up on his dream of becoming Pirate King.

With the commotion settled down the Heart Pirates, sans Law, checked on the damage to their ship. Such a reaction from the  _Mugiwara_  Captain hadn't been expected, and the damage was quite extensive. Bepo set the crew on repairs right away, and hoped that whatever had set Luffy off wouldn't occur again.

Hours passed. The Heart Pirates managed to get most of the damage fixed and Jinbe had taken to watching over the brothers from a nearby boulder. Law joined him for a while, if only to see how his patient's wounds were holding up, despite the fact that he held no obligation to the younger pirate. Luffy's tears had stopped after some time, and now he was silently observing his sleeping brother.

A delicious smell wafted through the area, and his stomach promptly chose to growl, as if reminding him of all the meals he had missed. He didn't bother to calculate it, but he knew that he was going to end up eating majority of the food to make up for the lost meals. Ace must have been hungry too, because he had slept the entire time Luffy had been sitting there with him.

"Ace, it's time to eat!" A wide grin stretched across his face and he cheerfully poked his brother on the cheek. Ace scrunched his face up funnily and grumbled something under his breath as he turned his head away from the invasive poke. This caused Luffy to give a 'Shishishishi' and poke Ace on the same cheek once more. The process repeated itself until Ace had completely wormed his way off of Luffy's lap, with the gomu-ningen following him just to poke him some more.

Ace woke up, quite grumpily, well before the food came, and was greeted with the cheerful face of his brother. He had to blink away his shock, and his grumpiness melted away to happiness. "Luffy! You're awake!" He sat up and pulled Luffy into a tight hug, which caused the younger pirate to wince. Ace let go of him immediately, an apologetic look on his face as he eyed the bandages that wrapped Luffy from head to foot.

"Ace is funny. Of course I'm awake." And so very hungry. The smell of the food was getting stronger, and he was starting to drool. "It's time for..." With a slight scowl he glanced up at the sky in an attempt to determine what meal time it was. It was too late for breakfast, and it looked like it was too late for lunch. It wasn't quite dinner time, so it must have been snack time. "It's snack time!"

Ace could only stare at Luffy, at least until the comprehension set in that it was time to eat. He too could smell the food, but with having just woken up and still being so tired, it took some time for him to become more aware. He couldn't have been asleep for too long. A few hours maybe. Just how long had Luffy been awake? Ace finally noticed that they were outside and not far from the submarine, the Heart pirates working on some damage to the ship he didn't recall it having. He hadn't left it until now, though it had been forcibly, so he wouldn't have known much of what had went on.

"C'mon Ace! Let's go eat!" Luffy was as energetic as ever, and it was hard to tell if he knew he was injured. The heavily bandaged teen was literally bouncing where he sat, and only shot up once Ace moved to get up. He figured he could sleep after he ate, if his narcolepsy didn't kick in, since what little rest he did manage to get seemed to help. Luffy, on the other hand, probably wouldn't be sleeping for a while.

Snack time, as Luffy had deemed it, had been an all out war between the two brothers, leaving everyone else present barely anything to eat for themselves. The Heart Pirates, Jinbe and the attending Kuja could only stare in shock as morsel after morsel was devoured by Luffy and Ace at a rate that should have been inhuman. Some of the Kuja had seen it before, but they could still hardly believe such a feat was possible.

With the brothers contentedly full Luffy took it upon himself to use Ace as if he were a pillow, much to Ace's feigned protests. The young pirate soon found a hand in his hair and he closed his eyes. Against the darkness of his eyelids he replayed the last of what he could remember from the war. He had stumbled...dropped Ace's Vivre Card and was trying to reach for it. Ace shouted his name. Akainu punched, his fist made of deadly magma. Ace was there on the ground beside him and... Garp. Oh god. Grandpa had taken the hit. He had saved Ace! Ace was alive and Grandpa Garp was...

"Ace..." His brother tensed at the tone of his voice, and Luffy opened his eyes to look up at the freckled visage of his brother. "Jii-chan... Is he..." He couldn't bear to ask it. Ace's facial expression was enough of an answer for him, and he could feel the sting of tears in his eyes. The only other family member he had known was gone. Grandpa Garp was dead, all because he hadn't been able to defend himself. Sure, he didn't exactly get along with the old Marine, but he loved him because Garp had been there for him.

Ace, on the other hand, wasn't as affected by Garp's death. Yeah, the old man had taken him in and saved him, but being dropped off into the care of bandits kinda soured everything between them. It wasn't until recently he knew why Garp had saved him as an infant, all because of a promise made to Roger. He had been questioning his existence now more than ever, but seeing Luffy so emotionally distraught over Garp's death... If it had been him instead of Garp... He probably would have been right in his assumption as to how Luffy would have reacted over his own death. There wasn't a doubt in his mind now about his own existence. It was a good thing that he had been born, and he was determined now more than ever to keep the foolhardy promise he had made to Luffy. "Everything is going to be okay, Lu."


	4. Efforts Toward Glory: Gray Terminal - Final Destination of Uncertainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace reminisces on how he met Luffy, with Jinbe listening. Meanwhile a mysterious person in the Revolutionary Army takes his frustrations over the lack of news out on anyone who will challenge him.

_"Ace... Luffy...!!! We have to make it out to sea someday!"_

 

* * *

 

It was nearly too much to bear, losing his Grandfather the way he did. Ace held on to him and rocked him as he cried, well until after he fell asleep. Jinbe, who had watched the whole thing from over on his boulder, came over and sat down next to Ace. The Fishman was at a loss for words, since he hadn't known Garp personally. He had only known him from when the old man had come to visit Ace in Impel Down.

"Garp had taken me in after my mother died and he took me to the Goa Kingdom. There was a group of bandits that lived up on Mount Corvo, Curly Dadan and her family. He left me in their care, and later on he brought Luffy to them as well. I was ten at the time, and Luffy was seven...

"Dadan!! Get out here!!!"

If there was one person Dadan feared, it was Monkey D. Garp. The large woman stepped out of her home, also her base of operations, a lit cigarette at the corner of her mouth and a nervous sweat visible on her exposed skin. "G...Garp-san!! You need to hurry up and give me a break already!! That Ace boy's already ten, you know!" Magra and Dogra appeared behind her, the taller Magra attempting to calm her nerves despite fearing Garp as well. "I'm not gonna be able to handle much more of this!! Take him back already, would you?!"

Unfortunately for Dadan, Garp had no such intention. "Ehhhh?! Who's that little rugrat?!" Garp had other things in mind for her and her bandits. "You're bringing me another!?" Things that Dadan wished he wouldn't do. "Garp's...ahh?! Garp-san's grandson!!?"

Garp could be very convincing. "Yup..." It was a sucker punch kind of convincing. "So choose, fellas. Live the rest of your lives behind bars, or raise this little guy." It knocked any arguments she had against the situation out of her. "I'm keeping all their eyes closed to your crimes, which number more than the stars, I might add...!!" Garp was a certified master of blackmail. He was also a bastard.

"Well... Yeah, we don't wanna be arrested, but I sometimes wonder if the slammer's really worse than this!" Anything was better than taking care of a brat like Ace. "I'm already at my wit's end with Ace alone, and now you want me to take care of your grandson?!" There was no telling what they were going to get into if they took Luffy in as well. "He's a little monster, isn't he?! Just like the other one!!"

Said monster was wandering around, minding his own business, while Garp was blackmailing the bandit into caring for him when something suddenly hit his cheek. " **Gehhh!!** " Luffy reached up to wipe the wet substance off of his cheek and he scowled at his hand when he examined it. "Spit!!! Gross!!" He glanced to his right, where the spit had come from, and saw a boy. "Hey!!  **Who did this?!** "

Garp turned from Dadan, his blackmailing of the bandit on hold, so he could get a look at his adopted grandson. "Hey, Ace!"

Dadan's reaction to Ace's appearance was less enthusiastic and more surprised. "Whoaaa!! You came home, Ace?!?!"

Ace scowled at everyone from atop his slain buffalo, a bloodied pipe held in his right hand. The freckled child gave Luffy a weighted glare when his gaze landed on the seven year old, which Luffy returned.

"That's Ace. He's three years older than you. You're gonna live with him from forward, so you better get along, got it?!" Garp came to stand beside Luffy and smacked the straw hat covered head of his grandson. "Uuu!!"

"It's already decided?!?!"

"...whaddya want?!"

"I'm entrusting him to you!!!"

 

* * *

 

_"We'll leave this country behind, and gain our freedom!"_

 

* * *

 

"I hate..." Luffy glared at the family of bandits before him, memories of Higuma surfacing. "...mountain bandits!" All bandits were bad, so Dadan had to be bad too.

"Shut it brat, we're already tired with the likes of you!" Dadan wanted nothing more than to toss the kid out on his ass, but Garp would somehow find out if she ever did anything to Ace or to Luffy, so for the time being her threats could only be verbal. She had no choice but to raise Luffy, as well as Ace, no matter how ungrateful the brats were. Case in point when Luffy merely stuck his tongue out at her. "If you don't like it here, get out and starve to death!!"

"Calm down, Boss." Magra was doing his best to calm her down, the worrywart, but there wasn't much need for it. She wouldn't kill the brat herself. She'd let him get himself killed.

"This is too little. I want that meat too." Luffy held up his small bowl, empty of the meager amount of rice that had been given to him, and eyed the plate of meat that sat in front of Ace with jealousy. He was also drooling, the scent of the meat quite delicious. His stomach rumbled, as if to emphasize that he was still hungry.

"This meat is from the buffalo Ace captured!! He gives us some and that goes in our plates. Mountain bandits aren't in shape recently..." Dadan tore into a haunch of buffalo meat and leaned closer to Luffy, her eyes narrowed into a glare at the child. "You will have a lot of work tomorrow!! You will clean, do the laundry, polish our shoes and weapons! As well as rob, steal, swindle and murder people!" Luffy would surely learn his place if he was going to be staying under her roof. She would make sure of it. Just one thing though. "And you must not tell Garp what you are doing here!"

Luffy, having finished his food before everyone, sat there and endured the lack of a better meal. He had gone through much worse before. "A bowl of rice and a cup of water a day. That is all you can have..." Okay, so maybe not as bad as this. "Anything else you have to get or grow up on your own!" Now that wouldn't be so hard to do. "Okay."

He said it so calmly that Dadan fell over out of shock. She hadn't expected him to respond in such a way. If anything, she had expected him to complain. He should have been crying. "You agree? You were supposed to cry!" It probably would have been better if he did start crying. Instead, the brat was grinning.

"My Grandpa abandoned me in the jungle once before." Oh God... What had she gotten herself into? "I can eat worms, frogs, snakes and mushrooms as long as I want." There was no way this child was human. No possible way. "If I am going to become a pirate, I must be able to do that by myself." And that was when Luffy noticed Ace departing from the room. "Where is Ace going?" So Luffy got up and ran after him.

"Wait, where are you going?!!" Dadan was starting to panic, when it finally registered that he had said something else. "...did you just say pirates!?"

Ace had gone outside and was walking towards the forest, his pipe staff in hand. Luffy threw his sandals on and ran after the freckled boy to try and keep up. As Luffy made it out the door himself he heard Dadan declare, "Look at him!! He's too strong... That's why I don't want to take care of Garp's grandkids!!!" Magra, once again, was trying to calm the woman down as Luffy followed Ace into the forest. "Calm down, Boss!"

 

* * *

 

_"How long are you going to carry on like that...?"_

 

* * *

 

After a few minutes of walking, and with the sneaking suspicion he was being followed, Ace turned to silently glare at Luffy. The seven year old wasn't even phased by the look the freckled boy gave him and merely waved his arms at him as he yelled, "Hey!!! I am Luffy!! I am not angry about you spitting on me anymore!"

Ace kept silent and continued on his way with a glare occasionally tossed over a shoulder. Luffy was busy remembering the time when he had gotten mad at Shanks over the incident with the bandits, while the red-haired pirate had only laughed the situation off. Shanks had been right. It was stupid to get mad over something small like having sake poured on him. So he wouldn't be mad at Ace for the whole spit thing.

"It's not something to get angry about!! Let's be friends!" Luffy was persistent. He had to be. Ace was the only person he could be friends with. The older boy was by a tree now. Maybe he was too far away to hear what he was saying. "Where are you going?"

Ace kicked the tree. The tree completely shattered at the trunk, a testament to the brute strength the ten year old had. With the tree no longer stuck to its trunk it was sent careening towards Luffy.

"What?" It was so sudden, the tree coming at him, he barely had time to yell out in surprise as he was hit. "Aaaaagggghhh!" Thankfully, he was made out of rubber so the attack from the tree didn't hurt like it should have. "Aaaarrghhh!!" When he managed to crawl out from the wreckage of the tree Ace was well ahead of him. He ran until he was out of breath. He ran until he found Ace on a bridge crossing over a gorge.

Ace was shocked to see that Luffy, who was all bloodied up and had twigs in his hair, was still following him. His grip on the pipe staff tightened and he doubled back across the bridge to intercept the seven year old. Once he was close enough he leapt forward and knocked him off of the bridge.

"Aghhh!!"

 

* * *

 

_"All the treasure we hid in the forest was gone. Sabo didn't use it in the end... So... I think I'm... okay with that."_

 

* * *

 

"Ace... Why are you back, alone?" Ace gave the bandits his usual silent treatment as he walked into Dadan's hideout, alone. "Weren't you with Luffy?" Hopefully lost somewhere in the gorge. Maybe getting eaten by one of the many animals of the mountain. "Where is he?"

"Who knows," Ace finally answered. Magra and Dogra were surprised at his response, and the shorter of the two turned to Dadan. "Hey Boss! He is missing since yesterday, this is not good!" This wasn't just any kid they had lost. This was Garp's grandson!

"Well... Who gives a damn! If he dies so be it, we can't do anything..." Dadan wasn't concerned about the well being of Garp's brat. The Marine shouldn't have dumped Luffy on them, or Ace for that matter. So what if the boy had run off? "We have already given up from looking after Ace." Now that would really solve all of her problems. "I don't care if he dies... If so we will just tell Garp it was an accident." That, of course, was becoming less likely the older Ace became. "Of course that won't happen. It's just like in the saying 'A hated child is successful in the world'."

Ace had left the room by then, and was now leaning against the wall of a room adjacent to the den. He could hear them clearly. They knew he was listening to their conversation, didn't they?

"Think of what will happen if the Government finds out! He is the son of the Devil after all!" Dadan was cruel with her words, like everyone else when they spoke of him. When they spoke of his lineage. "Do you know what they will do to us?" Execute them, maybe.

"Calm down, Boss."

 

* * *

 

_"No use collecting treasure if we can't even protect it..."_

 

* * *

 

A week passed by since that fateful day, and it was night out. Dogra woke the house up with, "Boss!! Dadan, Ma'am!!" What could have been so important that he had to wake everyone up? "Luffy came back alive!!"

Indeed, Luffy did find his way back to Dadan's hideout. He was bloodied up, his clothes torn and he looked exhausted.

"He's still alive!?" Dadan came to the door, and saw for herself that Garp's grandson was indeed alive. After she had written him off and everything. "Where the hell were you!?"

 

* * *

 

_"..."_

 

* * *

 

"Hey! Where have you been?" Dadan blocked the entryway to her hideout as she questioned Luffy.

"I was being chased by wolves and fell off of the cliff..."

"The cliff!? Why did you go there for!?" Dadan waited for an explanation, but when Luffy wasn't forthcoming with one she picked the brat up. She brought him into the house and started over to the room where Ace slept, only to toss him in once she was close enough to not risk damaging anything. "For now, sleep." The brat landed on the bedroll they had set out for him and didn't move. "From tomorrow on you're going to work hard for us!"

Luffy was asleep instantaneously, which was surprising given his condition. Ace, who hadn't been asleep, really, opened an eye, despite his back being turned to the younger boy. He couldn't fathom why Luffy hadn't ratted him out for knocking him off of the bridge. Hopefully he had learned his lesson by now.

 

* * *

 

_"Ace... I..."_

 

* * *

 

Morning came, and Ace went right outside with it. He had barely walked ten feet when he heard, "Hey Ace!!! You're going somewhere again!?" Luffy was cleaned up and bandaged, courtesy of Magra, and so very enthusiastic. Why wasn't he angry? He should have been angry!

"Take me with you!" Well, the answer to that was simple. Ace wanted nothing to do with Luffy. The seven year old would only get in the way. "Come on! Let's be friends!" That was a definite no. Ace just glared and walked off into the forest. "Hey, wait for me!" He took that as his cue to speed up a bit. "This time, I'm not going to lose you!"

Eight days passed in this manner. Then ten days passed. Every day he followed after Ace, and every day he lost track of him. A month went by, and then another. Through the rain and the wind he chased after Ace as though his life depended upon it.

This ever perilous chase had soon been going on for over three months, and finally... "Huh? This is the end of the forest?" He had made it out of the forest north of Mount Corvo, where Dadan and her thieves lived, to a strange place. "What the hell is this place!? Oh god it stinks..." There were mountains of trash here, and they smelled so very terrible. Grey smoke rose from the piles of trash that spontaneously combusted, wreathing the area in a blanket of haze.

Luffy carefully picked his way through the mountains of trash, and kept his distance from the people that were wandering around as he continued his search for Ace. As he would soon learn, this place of trash was Gray Terminal.

 

* * *

 

_"I want to..."_

 

* * *

 

"Luffy-kun was very persistent," Jinbe mused when Ace paused, and the Fire Fist smiled faintly. The Fishman took a closer look at Ace and saw the sadness in his expression. "Ne, Ace-kun, is everything all right?"

Ace ran his fingers through Luffy's unruly black hair, the younger pirate still sound asleep and his head resting in the Logia User's lap. "Just remembering Sabo..."

He carefully picked his way through the Gray Terminal back towards the forest, a large bag under his right arm. Once he reached the edge of the forest he glanced around to make sure he hadn't been followed, and that no one was in earshot. "Sabo!" He went a little further in and looked up at the tree branches. "Sabo!" Ace cupped his free hand to his mouth as he called out again, "Sabo, are you here?!"

"Ah." A short, shadowed figure appeared in a small grouping of branches. "Hey Ace." The voice was distinctly male, and young, and it appeared as if the boy wore a top hat.

"Sorry for the lateness!" Ace lowered the bag to the ground and leaned his pipe staff against a tree. Ditching Luffy had been a chore, but he was positive the seven year old was well on his way back to the bandits.

"With you being late, I already did the job in town." Sabo grinned down at Ace, his form still covered in shadows.

"Hm, I see... Well guess what, so did I!" Ace hefted the bag back up and lifted it for Sabo to see. Even with Luffy being a nuisance and trying to follow him he had managed to still complete a job. Now it was only a matter of who had made more. Ace quickly joined Sabo up in the tree where their money was stashed away, and dropped the bag in front of the blond.

Sabo opened the bag while Ace went to retrieve his weapon, and a grin lit up his face when he saw how much money Ace had gotten. "Awesome! You got more than me!" The top-hatted boy opened up their cache of money and started transferring the stacks of Beri. "This is a lot of cash, how did you do it!?"

"I took it from a bunch of people near the gate!" Ace sat down on the tree branch and watched as the money was put away. "They might have been carriers for some merchant ship." It didn't really matter where the money came from, it all went into the same place.

"Damn it!! You beat me again!" Sabo mentally tallied another win for Ace, even though their competition was a friendly one. Regardless, this money was bringing them closer and closer to their dream.

"Who cares about winning... It's our stash of pirate savings which we're gonna use one day." Ace peered into the cache and took in the sight of a hoard of treasure that would make a lot of people in the Goa Kingdom envious. They would also kill for this money. "It's been five years since we started saving... We went through hell to gather this much..."

"Yeah! I wonder how much we need to buy a pirate ship." Sabo dropped the last stack of Beri into the cache and put his hand on the edge of lid. The blond glanced up at Ace and waited for him to answer.

"Who knows... But, we still have a long way to go!" There was no telling how much a good ship would cost them. It would have to be a sturdy one too. "Hurry and close it, who knows who will see us..."

"Pirate ship!?" a voice shouted from below. The two boys flinched and looked down to see Luffy. How had he found them? "You guys want to be pirates!?" Ace was glaring at the seven year old, his teeth bared menacingly, while Sabo was staring in open-mouthed shock. "Me too!"

 

* * *

 

_"I want to get stronger!"_

 

* * *

 

"So Ace, this is where you come to every day!?"

"Shut it!"

"So this is the Luffy guy you were telling me about..." Sabo had his arms crossed over his chest as both he and Ace glared down at Luffy. Ace had his hands on his hips, and they both carried a pipe staff. "So you finally came all the way here... And you did it by using a path that even a human couldn't walk through."

"Hey! Are you a friend of Ace!? Let's be friends!" Luffy was grinning widely, despite being tied to a tree. He was happy to see Ace, and even more happy to see that Ace had a friend!

"Shut it!" Ace's tone was chilly, but it did nothing to deter Luffy's cheerfulness. Sabo glanced over to his friend and scowled. "And this is the reason I told you to live here with me! That so called Mounyain Path Training really bit you in the ass... What should we do?"

"He knows our secret..." They had no other choice, because Luffy would surely blab about their treasure cache. "If we leave him, he'll tell someone." He and Sabo couldn't risk that. It was five years worth of stolen money. "...let's kill him." It was their only option. "I agree."

"WHAAAAAAT?!" Luffy's yell was loud. Sabo was the one to react by slamming his palm under Luffy's chin. "Don't yell, you idiot!!!" He kept his hand there in an attempt to shut the seven year old up. "I didn't think you guys were gonna kill me!!! Help me, I don't wanna die!!!"

"Sabo!! Do it!!" Ace urged, which caused Sabo to turn to him. "What are you talking about, you do it!" It was Ace's idea, so he should have been the one to do it. "I've never killed a person!!!" And therein was the problem. "Same here! I don't know how to do it!"

"HEELLPPP!!!"

"SHUT UP!!!"

"Hey, I heard voices from here! Childrens' voices!!" Ace and Sabo seemed to freeze up at the sudden voices of adults. They were heading towards the three children.

"Crap! Someone is coming!" Sabo looked over his shoulder in the direction of the voices and tightened his hold on his pipe staff. This wasn't good. First Luffy had found them, knew about their treasure, and now this. Today wasn't turning out so well.

"First take the ropes off of him! We have to get away from here, or they'll find our treasure!" Ace cast a quick glance over his shoulder as well then quickly started to untie the ropes that held Luffy in place. Once the kid was free he dragged him into the nearby bushes, with Sabo hot on their heels.

A very large man, at least twice the size of the beat up men trailing him, came into view. "Those children Ace and Sabo you're telling me about are famous around here." They recognized him as Porchemy of the Bluejam Pirates. "You're sure it's Ace that took your money, right?"

"Yes... I'm ashamed, but he got me by surprise." The more banged up of the three men following Porchemy was the one who answered. Ace had done quite a number on all of them, but this one was sporting a sling for a supposedly broken arm.

"What a stupid child. To take money from our crew...!!" Porchemy looked absolutely pissed. "If Captain Bluejam hears about this, he'll kill all of us!"

"Damn... That guy was a trader for Bluejam..." Ace paled quite noticeably, and ducked lower behind the bush. "I got some dangerous cash here...!!"

"He's got a real sword! That's Porchemy!" Ace had really messed things up for them now. Luffy was no longer an issue, or a problem, and Sabo wasn't sure they would make it out alive if they were caught. "Have you heard of him!? He is crazy!" It was mostly rumor and speculation, but there had to be some merit behind it all. "He skins the heads of his opponents!"

And then they noticed something wrong. It was disastrous, mostly for them. "What... Where is he?" Ace had dragged Luffy into the bushes with them, so unless Sabo was mistaken, that annoying seven year old should have been with them. "Ah..."

"LET GET OF ME! DAMN YOU~!" Luffy screamed from Porchemy's grasp. Ace and Sabo promptly panicked and both thought, 'Why did he go to the enemies?!'

"Who's this brat?" Porchemy lifted Luffy up to get a good look at him. The kid was kicking and screaming for all he was worth.

"HELP ME, ACE!" Sabo and Ace ducked lower behind the bush and Ace glared in Luffy's direction. "He said my name..." he hissed out as he and Sabo did their best to pretend they were anywhere else but there. "He is such an idiot!"

"Did you just say Ace?" Porchemy eyed the brat with a look of uncertainty. "Do you know him?"

"He's my friend!" Luffy tried kicking and squirming some more, but Porchemy's hand was too tight on his shirt. "Oh, but he did try to kill me just now..."

"Damn him, he keeps talking!" Ace peeked over the bush at the pirates and Luffy, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I'm going to ask you one thing. Today, he took our money and ran away..." Luffy had stopped struggling by now and was glaring at Porchemy. His hands were balled up as he kept silent. "Do you happen to know where it is?"

"No! They will find out treasure!" Sabo joined Ace in peeking over the top of the bush once more. "That idiot better not say a word!!" There was no telling how much they had truly saved up in the past five years, and now they were so close to losing it all.

Luffy seemed to give Porchemy a pensive stare that he held for a long moment, then he glanced off to the left as he nervously whistled, "I... I... I do not know...."

Porchemy's shock was apparent as everyone shared the single thought,  _'Wow, you suck at lying!'_  The large pirate was quick to recover and laughed maniacally. "Hehe.... You leave me no choice then!" The brat was obviously covering up for the older boys. "Heh heh, I'll make you tell us." That sentence was ominous. Ace and Sabo didn't like how it sounded, and it wasn't even finished. "Don't worry...!"

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET GO! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?" Luffy renewed his struggles as Porchemy carried him off, the following pirates laughing darkly. Ace and Sabo could only stare in shock. Luffy hadn't told on them, but no doubt he would speak after subjected to torture.

 

* * *

 

_"...stronger... And stronger!! And stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and stronger...!!!"_

 

* * *

 

Jinbe was surprised, to say the least, and he tried not to show it. Ace noticed the Fishman's shock, however, and sighed. "I've never forgiven myself for how horrible I was to him back then, and I still blame myself for what happened to him. We could have prevented it."

"What happened Ace-kun?" It must have been taking a lot for Ace to bare this much of himself to someone else. Jinbe couldn't fathom just what Luffy had gone through.

Ace paused and looked down at Luffy. It was dark now, and the younger pirate was still recovering. "Let's take Luffy inside first. I don't want him catching a chill." Despite him being empowered with the  _Mera Mera no Mi_ , his heat wouldn't be substantial enough for Luffy in his current condition. He was better off wrapped up in a nice warm blanket. A bed would do him good too.

He carefully scooped his brother up into his arms and cradled him to his chest as he stood. Jinbe joined him and they walked back to Law's submersible.

 

* * *

 

Elsewhere, on the island of Baltigo, home to the Revolutionary Army, a young man swept the feet of his opponent from under them with his lightweight metal staff. He was frustrated with the lack of news concerning the War at Marineford. It was safe to say that he'd been like this since the news of Portgas D. Ace's imprisonment and impending execution, but Dragon himself had explicitly given the order for him to not interfere. Fate would do as it pleased.

The man's own son had been reported to have taken part in the war as well, but there had been no news other than their abrupt disappearance. He and Ace both were presumed dead, and so here he was taking his anger and fury out on anyone who would accept his challenge.

Another stepped up to face him and this time he dropped his staff to transform. His body grew as brilliant azure scales replaced skin and clothes. Sharp, curved talons replaced his nails as his form became serpentine, a soft mane of gold going from his draconic head down his slender body and to the tip of his long tail.

He had assumed the full animal form of his fruit, the  _Ryuu Ryuu no Mi: Model Higashi no Ryuu_. His challenger hesitated at the sight one of the rare mythical zoan users and he took that as a chance to surge forward. He opened his jowls and prepared to douse his opponent in burning scarlet flames when a sudden wind knocked him back. He lifted his head from the ground where he had been casted away like a rag doll and was met with the imposing figure of Monkey D. Dragon himself.

Dragon's stare felt weighted, and shame flooded him at his violent outbursts. He slowly shifted back to his human form, his attire nearly identical to what he had worn as a child, but far less tattered than what his clothes had been back then. It was one of the things he himself had insisted upon, so that he would never forget why he was now with the Revolutionary Army.

"Do not apologize," Dragon commanded as he started to open his mouth. He snapped it shut and stared at the man. There was no choice but to listen to him. "I have received word from Ivankov that they are alive and well..."

He fixated on those words, and effectively blocked out the rest of what Dragon had to say. Relief washed through him and he found himself smiling as tears sprang to his eyes. Dragon paused in whatever it was he was saying, as if he had noticed the change in the young man's mood, and gave a faint smile himself. He too was relieved that Luffy had made it out alive, with Ace no less, but he had sworn that he would let Luffy forge his own path now.

"Is Iva-chan coming here?" He picked up his top hat, goggles fitted around it in place of the ribbon usually found on one, and returned it to its rightful place on his head. Dragon nodded and there was a deafening cry from the onlookers that had gathered for his fights. One of their own would be returning to them and soon he would be returning to his brothers. Hopefully.


	5. Efforts Toward Glory: The Porchemy Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ace explains what happened to Luffy and the Bluejam Pirates. Meanwhile, Dragon learns of his father's death from Ivankov.

**Summary:** In which Ace explains what happened to Luffy and the Bluejam Pirates. Meanwhile, Dragon learns of his father's death from Ivankov.

 

  _"And stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and stronger... And stronger, and stronger!"_

 

* * *

 

  
Once Ace had deemed Luffy comfortably asleep in the bed provided to him on Law's ship he sat at the edge of it. Jinbe occupied the chair adjacent to the bed, a look of patience on his face. There had been no further questioning on the Fishman's part, and Ace sat in silence for a moment as he attempted to form the words necessary. "I was a stupid kid...and even though I had my reasons for trying to keep Luffy, and anyone else for that matter, away... They weren't good reasons. It nearly cost him his life, how he defended the secret of our treasure from Bluejam's minions...

  
"Let me go!!!" Luffy was loud, and angry. The stupid pirates, if they could even be called that, had brought him to a capsized and abandoned ship in Gray Terminal and tied him up. No one paid attention to the pirates with a boy. They got to keep their lives for not interfering.

  
"I'm not saying anything!!!" He had been unceremoniously tossed against a post holding up the structure, and his continual defiance was starting to grate on Porchemy's nerves.

  
"Little shit...!!" Porchemy grabbed a large wooden mallet and swung it down on Luffy without warning. The other three pirates with him stared in shock at the boy's almost completely flattened body. They were even more shocked when the hammer was lifted away from the boy.

  
"Uuu...!!" He sat there, completely unfazed by the attack, a bland look on his face. "Like I already told you, I ate the  _Gomu Gomu_ \--"

  
"GYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Porchemy gave a shout of frustration, effectively interrupting Luffy's explanation, and tossed the mallet down. After a moment he calmed down, a strange gleam in his eyes. "A  _Devil's Fruit_ , huh... Looks like he's telling the truth." He started toward Luffy, a hand held out for something. "Bring me my  **gloves**."

  
His fellow crew members looked startled at the demand, and they had to wonder if Porchemy's gloves would even work on the rubber brat. "Listen up, you little shit. What your friend Ace stole from us was an important sum of money for our crew..." The tall pirate tugged on his gloves once they were handed to him. One of the others hoisted Luffy up so that he hung in front of Porchemy. "You know where it is, so go on and tell us already...!!"

  
Luffy gave Porchemy a defiant glare, to which the man cocked his arm back and swung. The boy steadfastly remained silent, not even a cry of pain coming from him, as his blood splattered on the ground. In truth, he was stunned by the blow.

  
"It worked!!" Porchemy's crew mates seemed surprised that the spiked gloves worked on the boy. "You shouldn't make pirates angry..." He inspected his gloved right hand for a brief moment, and noted the blood droplets on its surface. "Especially our Captain Bluejam. He's a bit of a brute..."

  
Tears welled up in Luffy's eyes as his body trembled. It hurt so much. "GYAAAAAAAHHH!!! THIS HUUUUUURTS!!" It had only been one punch, and it wasn't anything like Garp's 'Fist of Love', but it hurt all the same. "I'M SCAAAAAAARED!!! HELP MEEEEEEE!!!"

  
"You guys go search for Ace and Sabo," Porchemy instructed and readied to punch the brat again.

  
"Y... Yes sir!!"

 

* * *

 

  
_"And then even stronger still!!!"_

 

* * *

 

  
In the Midway Forest, between Gray Terminal and Mount Corvo, Ace and Sabo rushed to move their cache of treasure. "Hurry, hurry!! If Porchemy and his men get here, it's all over!!" Ace had been the first one to reach their cache, and had immediately started to pile as much treasure as he could in an old empty box. "We need to hurry up and move the treasure somewhere else! It's only a matter of time before that idiot Luffy breaks his silence!!"

  
"If they make it here, not only our loot this time, but everything we've worked up to save over these past five years will all be stolen!" They kept filling the box until it could barely hold anything more before they finally took it to a new hiding spot.

  
Meanwhile, Porchemy's crew mates were going around the Gray Terminal, asking around about the two troublemakers. They were met with warnings against the children, and even threatened by the residents of Gray Terminal. This kept on well until sunset, and they knew that Bluejam was expecting them. Their captain, who was a cruel man, was more likely to kill them over this, than to hear them out, so they feared returning to him empty-handed.

  
Back with Ace, the ten year old had finished moving the last of the treasure, and he was looking out at the setting sun from their new hiding place. "Evening sure came in a flash..." It had taken nearly all day. "...alright, finished!! All the treasure's been moved!!" He could announce it without fear now, for they had chosen a spot much deeper in the forest. It was probably closer to Mount Corvo.

  
Sabo came running up, a look of panic on his face, and he was panting from exertion as if he had ran without stopping or pacing himself. "ACE!!" He was a bit winded, but his voice was strong enough to carry up to Ace from where he had stopped at the base of the incline. They had found a tree overlooking a cliff, and their treasure was hidden among its roots, but it was a slight climb up to get to the tree itself.

  
"Sabo! How'd it go? Did they come searching for the money over there?!" Ace would have assumed by Sabo's panicked state that Bluejam's pirates had found their old hiding spot. The expression that was on Sabo's face said otherwise.

  
"Haa... Haa... No, they didn't!! There's no way in hell they would now!!" A knot of cold dread twisted in Ace's stomach as he tried to understand what Sabo was saying. "...it's Luffy, that son of a bitch...!!! Haa...!! He still hasn't cracked yet!!!" And then he understood. That little brat really hadn't told on them, just like when he hadn't told on Ace for knocking him into the gorge from the bridge that one time long ago. "Eh?!"

 

* * *

 

  
_"Then I'll be able... To protect anything! I won't lose to anyone any more......!!!"_

 

* * *

 

  
"Damn, what's taking so long..." In the cove off of Gray Terminal sat a simple pirate ship. It was the ship of the Bluejam Pirates. "Who's in charge today." Nobody went near the ship, save for its own crew. The residents of Gray Terminal had learned some time ago to stay away from Bluejam and his crew.

  
"That mangy dog Porchemy, Captain Bluejam!" Bluejam was well known for killing his own crew over something most would find trivial, though the current situation was anything but. Porchemy had been tasked with an important transaction today, and his tardiness was as good as defection.

  
"The sun'll go down soon..." Everyone knew what it meant for Porchemy should he not show up soon. "No matter what the circumstances, they shoulda got the money by now...!!" They weren't sure what would happen if their fellow crew mate showed up late. Bluejam seemed to be getting more irritable with each passing minute. "That bilge-sucker wouldn't try to take the money and run, would he...?"

  
"Naw, there's no way..." Porchemy was probably delayed, or something might have happened. There was no telling since no one from his group had returned.

  
At that very moment Porchemy was still torturing the rubber brat, his fellow crew mates looking on. "Cough it up, dammit!!!" The tall pirate swung his fist again and sent more blood flying. "Po... Po... Po... Porchemy-san...!! It's no use, sir...!!!" The boy was damn near unconscious, if not close to dead, and it was obvious that he wasn't going to talk. "He... No longer has the strength to even scream!" The boy sniffled, hiccuped and sobbed, but he hadn't screamed for a while. "I doubt he'll be saying anything from this point on... To be honest, this is turning out to be too brutal for me to watch...!!"

  
"If you've got the energy to stand around and stick up for some damn kid, then go and find Ace and Sabo already!!" Porchemy turned and punched his crew mate for his cowardice. "We're the ones whose lives are in danger here!!"

  
Outside, a small group of old men who lived in the trash mountains of Gray Terminal were discussing the situation. There wasn't anything they could do, unfortunately, as there were no laws in the trash heaps and Bluejam's crew had the aristocracy of the Goa Kingdom on their side. The pirates had permission to do as they pleased, and the people inhabiting the Gray Terminal were no better than the trash thrown there.

  
Back inside the overturned ship Porchemy was at the end of his rope. He leaned in close to Luffy's dangling body and shouted, "Answer me!!!"

  
"...I won't say..." His voice was hoarse from all of his screaming, even with his body being made of rubber. Blood, his own, covered him from head to toe. His hair was matted with it. The clothes he wore and the ropes holding him were soaked with it.

  
Despite all of that Porchemy punched him again. "Stupid brat, uou think you're grown up just because you can protect some fucking secret, huh?!!"

  
"I won't say...!!" Louder. "I won't saaay...!!" And louder still. Luffy would take the secret to his grave, it meant so much to him.

  
Porchemy looked surprised at first, then discarded the spiked gloves in favor of a sword. "Fine, then!! ...die." He stepped in to end Luffy's life, just as the hull of the overturned boat was smashed in by two very angry children.

  
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!" Ace lead the attack, with Sabo closely flanking his left, and both of them had their pipe staves with them. They took out one of pirates that had been watching the proceedings and jumped over his body to get at Porchemy.

  
"It's him!!! Porchemy-san!!!" The pirates, all save for Porchemy were panicking. They hadn't expected for the brats to show up. "He's the one who stole our money!! Damn it!!!" Porchemy eyed Ace and Sabo, a possessed look in his eyes, while Luffy wailed for Ace. "They came straight to us? That makes things easier!!!" The pirate caught Ace by his neck and started to squeeze. "This shithead friend of yours' mouth is so tight, I was starting to get worried!!!"

  
"Sabo!!!" Ace's shout startled Porchemy, giving Sabo the perfect opportunity to bring the pipe staff down on the pirate's head. Ace jumped back, now that he was freed from Porchemy's grasp, as the other pirates looked on. The blond boy leapt past one of the pirates and snatched the knife from him.

  
"Ah!! My knife!!"

  
Sabo used it to cut Luffy down and dropped it to catch the seven year old. "Let's run, Ace!!!" He started to haul Luffy away as Porchemy got up. Ace jumped between the retreating Sabo and recovering pirate to give the blond more time to get away. "Go ahead of me!!!" Sabo paused and glanced back in shock as Ace stood his ground. "You idiot...!!" They had beaten up the small fry easily, but Porchemy had a sword.

  
"Once I've faced an enemy, I  **never**  run...!!!" Ace was prepared to take Porchemy on. He glared at the pirate and gripped his pipe staff harder until his knuckles were white. "Stop!!! He has a sword!!" Ace didn't budge. "He's different from the punks in town!!!"

  
"Hey... Don't you think you're giving in to your urges a little too much?" Porchemy towered over Ace, a trickle of blood going down the left side of his face. "Just hand over the money nice and easy, you little dirtbag."

  
"We can use this money for a better cause than you!"

  
"Enough with the bullshit!!!" Porchemy brought the sword up and swung. He sliced the pipe staff in half as Sabo set Luffy down and ordered him to stay still. "If I lose to a kid..." Porchemy grinned dangerously. "I'll give up piracy!!!" Luffy watched on as Ace and Sabo proceeded to fight the pirate.

 

* * *

 

  
_"........."_

 

* * *

 

  
Night fell and Bluejam led his crew to the overturned ship where they found a badly beaten Porchemy. On the way there they learned of what had transpired and Bluejam was beyond furious. "I've heard the details. Porchemy, you pathetic waste..."

  
"My apologies, Captain Bluejam... The money was..." He tried to move, and could only shift enough to look up at Bluejam.

  
Bluejam pulled out a flintlock pistol and aimed it at Porchemy. "Don't you look up! I don't wanna see your face..." He pulled the trigger, and none of his crew flinched Porchemy took a point blank round.

 

* * *

 

  
_"You've got to promise me...!!"_

 

* * *

 

  
Luffy was crying, quite loudly and annoyingly. They had bandaged him up first and tended to themselves afterwards. The older boys sat a few feet away from Luffy, Ace with the higher ground out of all three of them. Sabo was scowling up at his friend as he did his best to ignore Luffy's bawling. "Man...that's really one bad habit you have there, Ace!! Saying  _I'm not gonna run_  to a real pirate like that!!!" That could have been the end of his life and theirs out there. "Why do you wanna die so much?!?!" The blond sighed after a moment of stubborn silence on Ace's end. "....haah. Now that you've gone and done what you did... There's no way Bluejam's men will ever forgive us!  **We're gonna be chased now...!!** "

  
"That was shcary... I fwought I was gunna diiiie..." Luffy was still crying, his face an unsightly mess of tears and snot.

  
"Shuddap!" Ace snapped out. "Just how long are you gonna cry for, anyway?! I hate weaklings and crybabies!!" Whether his anger was renewed, or still there from the fight, Sabo couldn't tell. Still, Ace had a point about Luffy's crying. "You really piss me off!!"

  
Luffy immediately stopped his bawling, having sucked his lips into his mouth. Ace calmed down slightly, but watched the younger boy with a wary look. The rubberboy's boy shook slightly as he bowed at the waist and gave a soft, "...Shank you." The tears started again. "F...fur... Shaving me... Uuu..."

  
"Goddamn you!!" Ace started to get up to beat Luffy into a pulp, only to be stopped by Sabo with a hand on his arm. "Hey, hey!! He's just thanking you." Ace glared at the younger boy and breathed for a moment. It did little to help. "...I don't get it... Why didn't you spill the secret!!? Those men are criminals who easily kill women and children!!!" Ace hopped down from where he had been sitting and Sabo got up to join him, an expectant look on his face.

  
"...but if I told them, then we couldn't be friends anymore...!!" Luffy stated it like it was a fact, his tone serious. Ace was still quite angry, even with Luffy's answer. "But it'd still be better than dying, wouldn't it?!?! Why do you want to be friends so much... With me?!" It seriously baffled him with the want to be his friend. He had been downright horrible to the younger boy. "Do you know how much shit you've put me through?! After finally following me all the way here?!"

 

"BUT I HAVE NO ONE ELSE TO RELY ON!!!" Ace was stunned into silence as Luffy yelled out his answer. "I can't go back to Fuusha Village... And I hate the mountain bandits...!! If I didn't chase after you..." Luffy's voice dropped for a few seconds and he seemed to choose his words carefully. "Then I'd be alone... And being alone hurts worse than pain!!!"

 

"What about your parents?" Ace was reluctant to ask that question, but the peculiarity of why Luffy had been so persistent in following him was starting to make sense.

 

"My Grandpa's all I have."

  
Now it really made sense. With a man like Garp and how often he was known to visit, which wasn't very often, Luffy truly had nobody in his life, that he wanted to be around anyways. "...so if I'm with you, then it doesn't hurt..." Ace was given a prompt yes by way of head nod. "...and if I'm gone...it'd be a problem for you, huh?"

  
"Yup." There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in Luffy's answer.

  
Now would come the ultimate test. Remembering all the times he had heard others discussing if Gol D. Roger ever had a kid and how horrible it would be, how the kid shouldn't even be born, he asked the most important question. "You want me to live...?"

  
"Of course!!" Again, there was no hesitation.

  
"...huh. --but I hate spoiled brats like you, y'know." Ace sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he looked away from Luffy.

  
"I'm not a spoiled brat!! I'm strong!!"

  
"Strong? What's strong about you? You are a boy, but you cry like a little girl!!"

  
That made Luffy angry. "You ever been punched by spikes?!?! I'm seven years old!! When I get to be ten like you, you can bet I won't ever cry, and I'll be even stronger!!!" And it was reduced to a shouting match between the two of them.

  
"I never cried even when I was seven!! Dumbass!! Don't compare me with you!!" They were in each other's face now with no signs of either boy backing down.

  
"I'm gonna become stronger than anyone!!!" As hilarious as that sounded coming from Luffy, he sounded dead serious about his declaration. "Because I promised Shanks that I'd become a great pirate!!!"

 

* * *

 

  
Jinbe stared at Ace with a confused look on his face at the mention of Shanks, which made the logia user pause in his recollection of their childhood. "Shanks... You mean  _Akagami_?" There was only one Shanks in the world, and that Shanks was a  _Yonkou_. The same  _Yonkou_  that had showed up right before Akainu tried to kill that pink-haired Marine boy. The Fishman hadn't thought much of  _Akagami_  showing up back then, since he supposedly got along with Whitebeard.

  
" _Hai_. He was the one who gave Luffy his straw hat." Ace grinned at Luffy over his shoulder, the younger pirate mumbling in his sleep. "He always had the hat with him wherever he went. Said he promised Shanks he'd become Pirate King."

  
That Luffy had known Shanks from his childhood years, and had received the straw hat from him... "He's gonna make good on his promise." With Luffy, anything was possible. The young pirate had accomplished several impossible feats already, and there was no telling how many more he had accomplished as well.

  
"Yes, he will."

 

* * *

 

  
"A pirate!? You??" The idea that Luffy was going to become a pirate was laughable. He was nothing but a crybaby.

  
"Hey, by the way, you two," Sabo interrupted. "I have a little problem here." Ace and Luffy were forehead to forehead now, both looking ready to beat the hell out of each other. "I've lived in this trash heap all my life... But from this day forward, the three of us are going to have our lives completely targeted by pirates..." While this wasn't a problem for the other two, it was for him.

  
Fortunately for Sabo, Ace and Luffy had an idea on what to do. "What in the hell is the meaning of thiiiiis?!" Dadan, however, wasn't very agreeable to the idea. "Ace!! Luffy!!! Who is that!!?" She wasn't given a choice in the matter, though, because the boys would not listen to her. "Why is there another one of you pissants here?!"

  
"Yo! You're Dadan, right? I'm Sabo." The blond was all smiles even in the face of Dadan's surly mood.

  
"Sabo!!? I know that name!" It was no surprise that the mountain bandits had heard of Sabo. News traveled around. "I've heard you're quite the shitty little pipsqueak!"

  
"Oh really... Well I've heard that you're quite the shitty old bag!!" He said it calmly, like he was discussing the weather with her, and his smile stayed in place.

  
"Don't bother collecting information you don't need, dammit!!"

  
And so Sabo came to live with Ace and Luffy at the hideout of the Curly Dadan Bandits on Mount Corvo, between Fuusha Village and the Gray Terminal of the Goa Kingdom. Every day Dadan demanded they earn their keep, and every day the boys fought their way through the forest to Gray Terminal, and the punks inhabiting the garbage heaps, and the pirates of the cove. They fought until their names were well known, even in the inner reaches of the Kingdom.

  
"Dogra!! Magra!!  _Goa..._  Where is that place, again?" It was quiet in the hideout with the brats constantly off making trouble.

  
"Might you be speaking of the  _Goa Kingdom_  that lies beyond Mount Corvo, the  _Trash Heap_ , and also Fuusha village?" Dogra spoke up from Dadan's left as she read through a paper.

  
"--yeah, that's what I thought..." The bandit woman seemed concerned for some reason, and Magra was picking up on this. They all were. "Now, now, Boss!! Reading a newspaper is such a rare thing to see you do... Might you be interested in swinging around the ol' spear today?" Dadan ignored him and kept reading through the paper. "Apparently there's some guests coming to this Kingdom or something? Seems like its really serious news... What's the big deal? Are these people that important?" Dadan put the paper down so everyone could see the cover page. "These  _Tenryuubito_  folks."

 

* * *

 

  
"I don't blame Ace for what happened back then." Luffy's sudden statement startled the two older pirates and Ace was quick to turn around. The young Captain was laying down still, his eyes half-lidded and his gaze fixed on Ace's face now that he was turned around. "And I'm glad that Ace is alive."

  
Ace was stunned into silence, his emotions as clear as day. There was a deep guilt, pain and sorrow in his expression that he had been harboring for years and years. All of it for something Luffy did not blame him for.

  
Jinbe, who was watching this, decided it was best to leave the two alone for the time being. It was obvious that Ace wouldn't be so forgiving of himself, but he wasn't going to stick around for the conversation to come. He could understand why Ace felt so guilty, and though it was partially his fault that Luffy had suffered in such a way he had still gone to save him.

  
They didn't notice the Fishman's exit, the two of them too absorbed in a stare down. Ace was staring more out of confusion and shock and Luffy just stared back, his own gaze slightly puzzled. The younger pirate had sat up since his statements so they were face to face.

  
Ace finally blinked and Luffy broke out into a grin, taking it that he had won their stare down. The logia user couldn't help but to smile back, Luffy's cheerfulness infectious. How could he not accept Luffy's forgiveness, even though he felt he didn't deserve it or someone like Luffy. "Lu, thank you." He ruffled the younger pirate's hair and felt some of the weight on his heart lift.

  
The young captain laughed softly and hugged his brother. He gave him an affectionate nuzzle and closed his eyes as Ace hugged him back a little hesitantly. "I love Ace, very much."

  
"Eh?!" Ace blushed profusely at Luffy's sudden exclamation and he had to wonder if Luffy knew the meaning of love. He was so very simple-minded, and there was no telling what context he meant those words in. "Lu?"

  
"I love Ace," Luffy repeated his statement and sat back to look at his brother. "Is something wrong? You're turning all red, Ace-nii-chan." He leaned in close as Ace continued to blush, and his proximity caused the blush to darken. "Ace-nii-chan?"

 

* * *

 

  
Everyone had gathered in the conference room, a subdued Sabo watching from the corner of the room. His top hat was tilted down to cover his eyes, shadows cast over the rest of his face as his dark mood permeated off of him. Dragon sat at the head of the table, with their temporarily returned comrade sitting off to his right.

  
Ivankov hadn't changed much, and was still as flamboyant as ever. "Vi have good news and bad news." Still, there was a somber air around the  _Okama_ , so the bad news must have been terrible.

  
Sabo didn't want to stick around, and he started to leave his corner of the room, but a subtle glare from Dragon had him staying.

  
"Good news first. Mugiwara-boy and Ace-boy are both alive and well." Even though he was relaying such joyous news Ivankov's somber mood intensified. "The bad news... Dragon, I am sorry to say, but... Garp was killed protecting them."

  
It was no secret that Garp the Fist of the Marines was Dragon's father, so a heavy silence took over the excited whispers of Luffy and Ace's survival. "That isn't all... Kuma-kun... He... He vas turned into a tool for the World Government."

  
Everyone looked to Dragon, the man's pallor a ghastly white and a look of...anguish was on his face. It was the first time they had seen him look like that, and Sabo reflected the same expression. He knew all too well how Dragon felt about Garp being in the Marines, and though he never showed it, Dragon had always hated that fact. It was easy to figure out which side had killed Garp if he had been protecting Luffy and Ace, and with the second hit of Kuma being taken from them...

  
Dragon got up from the table and left the conference room, much to many of the revolutionaries' confusion. Sabo went after him after he exchanged a glance with Ivankov. The blond caught up to Dragon in the hallway, where the man had stopped and was leaning against the wall. Sabo didn't say anything. He just stood there beside Dragon as the man silently grieved.


	6. Efforts Toward Glory: Brothers' Sake Cups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a conversation that leaves him mostly confused, Ace has a semi-revelation in regard to Luffy. Come morning, the remaining Whitebeard crew arrives and Jinbe fills them in. Once everything settles, Ace and Luffy continue explaining their past and how they came to be brothers. Meanwhile, Sabo is given one last mission to go to Tequila Wolf where he meets an interesting woman connected to his youngest brother.

"Ace-nii-chan?" Luffy was still so very close to him, and he was blushing so profusely that his skin was radiating a noticeable heat thanks to his devil fruit.  _I love Ace, very much._  The words replayed in his mind, endlessly.  _I love Ace._  He was sure Luffy had never stated that he loved anyone, or ever told anyone that he loved them.

"Lu..." He didn't know what to say, but he had to say something. He had to know what Luffy meant by his declaration, and he couldn't hold it against him. Ace was so flustered, and damn he was blushing when it probably wasn't necessary. He cared fiercely for his sworn brother, and he was so very protective of him. It was also true that Luffy was all he had ever talked about on the decks of Moby Dick after he had opened up to Pops and the crew.  _Pops..._

Edward Newgate was dead... He hadn't once taken a moment to grieve for the man he had called father, for the man who had called him son. The blush faded and his current state of confusion was forgotten as a crushing grief swept through him.

Luffy noticed the change in his brother immediately and grew concerned for him. He knew the look on Ace's face, the pain he had felt when he had thought his brother to be dead, when he had learned that his grandfather had died. He also knew what was causing that pain, and that he could only comfort Ace as he grieved for Whitebeard. His own heart still hurt, and maybe that pain would always be there, but right now Ace needed someone to be strong for him.

Ace broke down into sobs as Luffy leaned against him and wrapped his arms around him. A hand rubbed at his back as he turned to the young Captain and pressed his face into his shoulder. He let all of his grief out with Luffy silently comforting him through the hours. When he could cry no more he just staid there in Luffy's embrace, exhausted both mentally and physically.

Luffy took this opportunity to shift them so that Ace's head was resting against his chest. The young pirate captain leaned back against the wall the bed was set against while Ace curled up against him. His breathing had calmed considerably, though there was the occasional hiccup from the Mera Mera no Mi user. "Ace-nii-chan loved Giant Ossan very much."

"Hai," Ace breathed out, his eyes closed for the moment. With the topic of love back up he remembered what Luffy had said to him some hours earlier before his emotional breakdown. "Luffy?" He opened his eyes now and shifted just enough to glance up at his sworn brother. The younger pirate was quick to meet his gaze. "When you said you loved me..." he started, but the question trailed off as he searched for the right words.

"Ah, Robin told me about love. I thought it was a type of food at first, but Robin said it was a-" Luffy paused and screwed his face up in thought as he tried to recall what word Robin had used. "She said it is something in the heart." It was a funny word. E-something or other.

"Emotion, Lu. Love is a type of emotion or feeling." Ace sat up now so he could see his sworn brother eye to eye as he tried to best explain what he was feeling.

"Hai, hai. An emo-whatsit." Luffy would always be Luffy, never able to fully grasp everything explained to him the first few times, or even a few hundred times. This didn't stop Ace from understanding what he meant. "Robin said there are lots of kinds of love."

So Luffy did understand that there were different types of love. He had overreacted to Luffy's statement earlier, and there was a nagging sense of disappointment that left him confused.

"Ace is my most important person. I don't know how Ace-nii-chan feels, but as long as you're alive I can be happy." Luffy was smiling so openly and serenely, his tone so very serious and sure.

There was no doubt in his mind how Luffy had meant those words. "Lu." The momentary disappointment was replaced with a budding sense of relief and confusion. Ace didn't know how to respond to Luffy's simpleminded confession of how he felt. He wasn't even sure what he felt, other than a racing heart and warmth in his cheeks.

"Ace doesn't have to say anything." Robin had said that his brother probably wouldn't feel the same way, but Luffy never cared about that. He understood that Ace could also have a negative reaction and hate him. What was important to him was that Ace was alive and well.

"No, Luffy. I do have to say something." He couldn't leave his brother without an understanding of what he felt, even if he didn't know what that was. "I do care for you, and will always care for you. You are my brother, first and foremost, and nothing will ever change that." Ace didn't think he was having conflicting feelings on the matter, because as much as they were brothers there was no blood tying them together. Gender wasn't much of an issue, either. He simply wasn't sure how he felt.

Luffy smiled and launched himself at his brother to give him a tight hug. He succeed in knocking the older pirate over, but they were still on the bed so it was a soft landing. To make things a little awkward both of their stomachs growled, in synch, at which Luffy laughed and Ace blushed. The young captain scrambled off of Ace and the bed, though he grabbed hold of his brother's wrist and proceeded to drag Ace out of the room. "Let's go get something to eat!"

It was close to midnight by now, and most everyone was asleep. When they got outside Luffy grinned and whooped upon recognizing where they were. How he hadn't known that they were on Amazon Lily before was something Ace wasn't going to bother in figuring out. He did, however, grow worried when Luffy started to drag him off in the direction the Kuja had come from earlier. From what he knew was that they were forbidden from setting foot in that direction, and as much as he tried to relay that to Luffy his younger brother just ignored him.

The guardswomen at the gates floored him by giving Luffy a very warm greeting and opened the portcullis to allow them entrance. At this point Ace wasn't sure if he was awake or dreaming, because men were never given open admittance to the city of the Kuja tribe. He was very sure he wasn't dreaming when one of the guardswomen tackled him to the ground from behind.

"Men are not permitted to enter the city's walls!" Haki imbued arrows were aimed at him, much to his annoyance.

Luffy, who had kept walking, stopped when he noticed that Ace was no longer following him. He turned around to find his brother pinned down by none other than Marguerite. "Ace-nii-chan wants to play now?"

Marguerite glanced up at Luffy in shock, and then down to Ace, when the young pirate called him older brother. "This is your brother, Luffy?"

Ace, who was close to getting a mouthful of dirt, grumbled out an unintelligible sentence as Luffy gave a plain, wide-eyed nod.

"Are you going to play with Ace-nii-chan?"

"N-no!" Marguerite quickly let Ace out of the pin and motioned for the other Kuja to lower their weapons. "I'm sorry, Luffy-san, but he is not allowed to come in to the city."

"Why not?" Luffy scratched at the side of his head as Ace stood up and brushed himself off. "Ace-nii-chan didn't do anything."

Marguerite looked absolutely dumbfounded and didn't have anything to counter Luffy's question or statement. It was something that had never truly been questioned before, but she knew it was something that had always been a tradition of sorts. As it was, Ace was already well beyond the border of what was permissible. He was also Luffy's cherished brother that he had raced off to save with the help of Empress Hancock.

"It's okay, Lu. If I'm not allowed, then I'm not allowed." Ace shot the woman a sour look, which she returned with a glare. He didn't want to start trouble when it wasn't needed. "Go ahead and get something to eat, I'll be back at the ship."

Luffy looked absolutely crestfallen, and it was this single expression that made Marguerite feel so very guilty for his brother not being allowed into the city. If it was just for something to eat, which shouldn't take long, then it was okay, right? Besides, Ace was Luffy's brother, and she was sure that Hancock would allow it. So long as Elder Nyon didn't find out...

"You can come in, just this once." Marguerite had no idea at that moment how much she would come to regret her decision. Luffy gave a loud and excited whoop just before he stretched an arm out to grab Ace by his wrist.

"Luffy!" Ace gave a cry of surprise as he rocketed toward his brother when the young captain retracted his arm. He closed his eyes, expecting some kind of impact, and when none came he opened them to see the ground rushing under him. Luffy was dragging him through the air! At his full speed!

"Shishishi! Ace-nii-chan is very light!" The young pirate laughed jovially as he ran through the city in search of food, Ace shouting at him in exasperation to be put down.

When morning finally came, Jinbe peeked in on the two brothers, without so much of a clue as to what acts of terror they had incited on the women inhabiting the city of Amazon Lily. They were happily curled up in bed, the sheets twisted around their bodies, and peacefully sleeping.

"Don't worry about waking them up just yet, yoi." Marco got a good glimpse of them, and he knew all too well that it was best to leave a sleeping Ace be. The Second Division Commander was really grumpy when woken up. The new Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates followed Jinbe back out onto the deck of the Heart Pirates' submersible and leaned against a railing.

The Fishman stood a few feet away from him, his gaze following the path of the rising sun. "Ace-kun is carrying a lot of guilt on his shoulders..."

* * *

He was comfortable, the pillow he had his arms wrapped around just firm enough for him to keep snoozing. He didn't want to wake up, not when this was the best night's sleep he'd gotten in a long time. It could have been that it was impossible to sleep in Impel Down, what with how he'd been chained to the wall. The following, and brief, stay in Marineford's cell hadn't been very comfortable either. Then he'd been awake almost constantly for the week and a half to two weeks Luffy had been recovering. Throw in a short nap, which said little brother had interrupted; a couple hours of grieving on Luffy's part; followed by hours of story telling; a confession from, again, said little brother; a few hours of grieving on his own part; a conversation on love that left him mildly confused on his own feelings; and lastly a hunt for food that had ended up in successful disaster.

Ace was rightfully tired, but when his pillow started squirming he began to grumble. He received a poke, that was so very familiar, and then the pillow laughed. It was a laugh he knew anywhere, full of amusement. He was poked again, and he stirred enough to crack an eye open. His blurry sight was met with seemingly endless white bandages wrapped around one rubbery pirate's torso. He blinked and opened both eyes this time, the image focusing quickly as the torso moved in rhythm with the laughter.

"Shishishi. Ace-nii-chan must be hungry again."

Ace let go of his pillow and bolted upright in the bed at the realization that it was his brother Luffy. A quick second glance at the bandages neatly wrapping around his brother revealed a large discoloration that could be achieved by getting them wet with water...or drool. An embarrassed flush colored his cheeks as Luffy continued to laugh. He gave the younger pirate an empty glare, and after a moment passed he cracked a small grin.

"Looks like they're up, yoi." Marco was leaning up against the doorframe, and had been there since Luffy first laughed. The Captain was smirking slightly, which prompted Ace to send a fireball and a glare his way. "Still as grumpy as ever, yoi." Marco simply absorbed the fireball, which sent Luffy into an ecstatic frenzy.

" _Sugoi_! Can you do that again!" There were stars in the young captain's eyes as he hopped off of the bed to examine the Whitebeard captain. He took to prodding at Marco, much to the older Captain's annoyance and to Ace's amusement.

Ace waited a few minutes, all the while silently laughing as Marco scowled down at Luffy and then sent him a death glare while his brother carried on with poking at the Zoan. "Okay, Lu. I think Marco has had enough." He got up off of his bed and wrapped his arm around Luffy's neck, effectively putting the young captain in a headlock.

"Ah! You were there!" Luffy finally recognized the older pirate, his interactions with him at Marineford brief and few. "You're Ace's  _Nakama_." He didn't remember the man's name, but his hair gave his head a kinda pineapple-y look. That meant his name must have been like some type of food, and it started with a M. "Mackerel!" He tried to pry himself out of Ace's grasp, but his brother had a good hold on him.

Ace snickered as Marco gave Luffy an outright death glare. The  _Mera Mera no Mi_  user had said his name right in front of the boy, not even a moment earlier! "It's Marco, yoi." Luffy just gave him a blank look. "Anyways. Ace, I've heard you're quite the storyteller around here. Jinbe-san was telling everyone about how you and this squirt went around terrorizing pirates when you were younger."

Ace let go of Luffy as his attention focused more on Marco, and coincidentally the gomu-ningen tried biting at his forearm. "He told you everything, I take it." At Marco's nod the logia user sighed and wrapped an arm around Luffy's shoulders just as the younger pirate went to poke Marco again. "Is everyone outside?"

"Yeah. We were hoping you would come finish the rest of the story for us over breakfast, yoi." Marco gave a smile that showed his concern for his comrade. "Then we need to discuss what your plans are."

Ace went silent at that, and Luffy glanced up at his brother as he gained a contemplative look. He hadn't thought that far ahead, his mind in the here and now of things. He hated to leave behind his  _Nakama_ , but  _Nakama_  were forever and his little brother needed him.

"Take some time to think it over, yoi. First, lets go get breakfast and you can finish that wonderful story for us." Afterwards, Marco was going to see if the brothers wanted to attend the funeral for Whitebeard that was going to be held in the New World. Whatever Ace did after that was on him.

* * *

_"...Don't you..."_

* * *

As soon as they sat down at the table the remaining Whitebeard Pirates had set up Luffy started devouring everything in sight. Thankfully everyone else had eaten their fill, since they knew how much of an appetite Ace had. They were completely floored to see that Luffy's appetite was just as large, if not larger.

The Mera Mera no Mi user had a plate of food that Luffy thankfully didn't touch, and he was slowly picking at it. "Luffy was always trying these crazy attacks when we were little. He had this one move, the Gomu Gomu no Pistol. Every time he tried to use it he ended up ricocheting it off of the ground and hitting himself with his own fist...

"What do you think..." A ten year old Ace backed up as Luffy once again failed to do anything other than hit himself with his useless attack. "...you're even doing?!" He took the opportunity to jump kick Luffy in the face and sent him sprawling to the ground.

"A~nd match! Ace is the winner!" Sabo exclaimed as he tallied another mark in Ace's win column against Luffy. He started to add all of the tallies up while Ace stood over Luffy.

"Is that ability of yours really good for anything?" Ace folded his arms over his chest and glowered down at Luffy.

"Ughhhh... It's not working properly!" For some reason his fist wouldn't do what he was thinking of. Instead it always went to the ground, and most often it would bunce back up and hit him in the face. "Once I get attack working how it's meant to, you guys won't know what hit you, all right?!" Luffy hopped up now and threw his fists into the air. "One more round!"

Ace had turned and started walking away from the rubber boy. "Sorry, but it's only one hundred rounds per day per person. Try again tomorrow."

"And as usual Luffy's lost to me and Ace fifty times each. Me and Ace are at twenty-four to twenty-six. Damn it!" Sabo had finished tallying up their wins and losses, which it was always easy to know that Luffy lost every single fight against them.

"Well, when I'm ten years old, I'll beat both of you up!" Luffy exclaimed as he gave both older boys evil eyes.

"When you're ten, we'll both be thirteen. Come on, let's go catch dinner." Ace grabbed his pipe staff and carried it against his shoulder. The ten year old sent the other boys an impatient glance. They were quick to join him, and all three hurried off to the river, where they found a crocodile swimming along. "All right! How does crocodile sound?"

"Crocodile sure is tasty!"

"Try not to get eaten this time, all right, Luffy?! It was only blind luck that it swallowed you whole last time!" Sabo stood between Ace and Luffy, with the youngest crouched down beside him. They had taken to a tree branch overlooking the river, a perfect spot to jump a crocodile.

The boy's leapt out at the same time, and the crocodile looked up with his jaws open. In a short time they had the crocodile slain and bound up, at which they dragged him to Dadan's hideout. Magra was the one to greet them, Luffy sitting atop the crocodile carcass as Ace and Sabo pulled it along.

Once all of the meat was consumed, the bandits hardly getting a morsel of it, the skin was prepared and the boys set out for Gray Terminal the next morning. They disguised themselves under a cloak, Sabo at the bottom, with Luffy on his shoulders and Ace atop the youngest. The three passed through the dump with no problem, but they were stopped at the gate by a guardsmen.

"Hey, what's that you've got there?"

"It's crocodile skin. I'm going to sell it." Ace was the one to answer, being that he was the 'head', and he lowered his voice in an attempt to make himself sound older.

"Don't forget. After sundown, the trash hunters will be patrolling the streets. If they catch you, your lives are forfeit."

They continued on, until they were finally accosted by some punks in Edge Town. "Oi! You're from the trash heap, ain't that right?" The punks were blocking their way, a large group of them starting to surround the boys. "What's that you've got there? Let's see it!"

"Shut your faces, hoodlums!" Ace threw the cloak off and revealed all three of them. The punks recognized them, but attacked anyway. Their battle was short, and the boys continued on into Central Town, where they traded in the crocodile skin for a nice sum. After that they snuck into a nice restaurant with the help of their disguise, and they did a dine-and-dash.

The boys jumped out of the window from the fourth floor, as the restaurant staff shouted after them for not paying their bill. "Man, that was good!" Sabo exclaimed as they fell to the street below.

"What did I tell ya?!" Ace had been trying to get the blond to do it for a while now, and the excursion had paid off well. Luffy, who was above them, still had his mouth stuffed.

The black-haired boys hit the awning and bounced off, while Sabo grabbed hold of the flagpole sticking out from the building to slow his descent. They all landed on the street and darted off through the crowd as the authorities chased after them. A man walking the streets, his attire more expensive, looked up at the commotion and seemed to recognize Sabo.

"Sabo?! Sabo... It's really you! Wait right there! You're alive?! I don't believe it!" He started after them, waving for the boy to stop. "You have to come back home!"

Sabo panicked and kept running, Ace catching up with him. "Hey, Sabo! Someone's calling for you!"

"Who is that guy?" Luffy questioned around a mouthful of food.

"He must be mistaking me for someone else. Let's go!" He kept ahead of them, the two black-haired boys not buying his excuse. They didn't call him on it until they were well away from the Kingdom and back at their hideout. "What? I'm not hiding anything!"

"Oh... Really?" That was Luffy.

"Don't be stupid, of course he is! Let's hear it, Sabo!" That was Ace, who had a much angrier tone. "We shouldn't have to keep any secrets from each other, now, should we?"

"Spill it." Ace and Luffy said it at the exact same time, in the exact same tone, which was kinda creepy. Even their expressions were identical.

When Sabo didn't say anything they both went after his neck, Ace angrily exclaiming, "Just tell us already, you idiot! I'll kick your face in!"

"Gah! ...ah! I, I'll talk! I'll talk!" And so Sabo explained it all. After he was done, in a matter of mintutes, he sat there looking down as he waited for them to say something.

"The son of a Noble!?"

"Who is!?"

"...I am!"

Both Ace and Luffy gave him a flat look, the two of them sticking a finger up their noses at the exact same time. "So?"

"You're the ones who wanted to know!" Sabo raged, feeling quite like he had been put through the mill because of them. After a moment he settled down, feeling better now since it was apparent that his friends didn't care. "The truth is, both of my real parents are still out there... I'm not a real orphan, and I wasn't born on the Trash Heap, either." It felt good to tell them the truth without being judged. "The man who was trying to stop me just now was my father." He hadn't expected to see his father in Central Town. The Nobles usually stuck their noses up at the thought of leaving their precious High Town. "I'm sorry I had to lie to you."

"Well, if you're sorry, then that's fine! I forgive you." Of course Luffy would forgive him so easily.

"I'm actually pretty shocked by this." Ace began as he walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea. "If you were born into a Noble household... Why would you end up on the Trash Heap?"

Sabo frowned as he recalled a moment with his parents.  _"You have to grow up to be the kind of man who can marry the daughter of a Royal family."_  The sort of man that was like his father.  _"If you marry a Royal, then our family will be able to live easy! And you'll be happier that way too, of course!"_  No, he wouldn't have been happy.  _"Look, Sabo, I'm tired out from a hard day's work!"_ He  **never**  lifted a finger to  **do**  anything.  _"If you have time to sit around drawing pictures, why don't you go to your room and study?!"_

Then there was a time with his mother and upperclass Nobles.  _"You got in a fight with a Royal?!"_ He had been defending his own life.  _"Uh-huh...! He really hurt me...! He had a weapon, and-!"_  Instead of taking care of him, her very own son, she went to kiss the asses of the Royal family.  _"Mother...?! He really hurt me...!"_  Did he mean nothing to her?  _"Oh, I am so sorry! My son didn't hurt you at all, did he?"_

"All they ever cared about was having an heir to protect the family status and fortune." Nothing more. "They never cared about me!" Knowing that had hurt worse than anything imaginable. "If I couldn't marry into a royal family, then I was worthless. They made me work day in, day out to improve my chances." He'd been pretty much a slave to their wills. "My parents were always fighting because I wasn't good enough for them. There was never any place for me in that house." It had never been home to him. "This may be kind of rude to you guys, but... I was always alone even though I had parents."

 _"Don't you ever go near that trash heap! The people living there aren't human."_ Yet the Nobles were no better.  _"They're just pieces of trash in human form!"_

"The Nobles always scorned and despised the trash heap... But compared to that horrible elite district, where I didn't even have room to breathe..." It had been so stifling, living amongst the Nobles. "Where my whole damn life was planned out for me... I'd take the trash heap any day."

"So that's the deal, huh?" Ace understood Sabo a lot better now, and with the blond's explanation he was starting to hate the Nobles that weren't Sabo even more.

"Ace... Luffy..." Sabo stood up, a new fire burning in his heart as he made up his mind. "We have to make it out to sea someday! We'll leave this country behind..." He was getting excited at the prospect. "...and gain our freedom!" His voice was getting louder. "I want to see the world in all its glory and write a book about all the things I find! If it's sailing I'm studying for, then I don't care how hard I have to work!" He could feel it. They could really do it. "We've got to get stronger, and become real pirates!"

"Heheh." Ace grinned, happy that Sabo was back to being himself. "I don't need you to tell me that!" He stood at the edge of the cliff and raised his voice for the world to hear. "I'm gonna become a pirate, beat every last person who stands in my way and earn myself the kind of glory that dreams are made of! Only then will my life have been worth living!" He was going to show them all. "I don't care if the whole world refuses to accept me... They can hate me all they like!" He didn't need anyone's approval. "I'll become a great pirate and prove I'm better than them all!" Ace would be an unstoppable force. "I won't run from anybody! I'll never lose! I don't care if they end up terrified of me! I'm just gonna make sure the whole world knows my name!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy stepped up to the edge of the cliff next, having deemed it his turn to share his dream. "All right... Well, then..." He took a deep breath. " **I'M GONNA...!** "

Ace and Sabo both stared at the seven year old in shock as he yelled out his dream. "Huh?" Luffy just laughed, obviously pleased with himself. "Of all the things you could come out with..." Ace now had a look of disbelief on his face while Sabo started laughing.

"Ahahaha! Man, you're one crazy guy!" Leave it to Luffy to say something so bold. Sabo hadn't figured the youngest boy to be like that. "You're one to keep an eye on, and that's for sure!" With that on his mind, given what everyone said, it brought up a question. "But isn't it gonna be a problem if all three of us want to be captain?"

"...yeah, that could be an issue. I always thought you were gonna be my navigator, Sabo." Ace had always been under the notion that he would be captain.

"What? You guys should join my ship!" And then there was Luffy. There was no way they'd follow a runt like him. He couldn't even get his attacks to work!

"Well, we can decide the details when the time comes." Ace led them over to the trunk of a tree that had been cut down long ago. He retrieved a bottle of sake, the good stuff, and set it down on the trunk with three cups.

"Who knows, maybe we'll all end up forming our own separate crews!" With three strong-willed people wanting to be captain, that was the only option Sabo could think of.

"Ah! You stole some of Dadan's booze!" Luffy recognized it, mainly because it was one of the bottles Dadan hid away for herself.

"Did you know, you guys?" Ace opened the bottle up and started pouring the sake into the cups. "If you exchange drinks, then you can become brothers."

"Brothers?!" Luffy's eyes lit up at the idea. "Really?!"

"When we become pirates, we may not be able to end up on the same crew..." Ace finished pouring the sake and set the bottle down. "But the bond of brotherhood we share will never die!" It was a spur of the moment idea, but it was a good one! "No matter where we are, or what we do... This is one bond we can never break!" They all picked up a cup and lifted them. "Starting today, we are brothers!"

From that day on, no matter whether they were causing trouble for the pirates of the cove, pranking each other at bath time, eating Dadan and her bandits out if house and home, or rescuing each other (mainly Luffy) they forged the strongest bond of brotherhood. They put up with Makino's visits for new clothes, went tiger slaying together, foraged for mushrooms and they even went through Garp's training whenever the old Marine visited. The boys eventually moved out of Dadan's hideout, which sent the bandit into a panic, and into a treehouse they had built by themselves.

They were living the good life, wild and free, until one day Bluejam's crew attacked them. "Give Sabo back! Bluejam!" The boys had been ambushed and beaten to a bloody mess, Sabo held by a sneering Bluejam.

"Give him back? Try speaking sense, urchins." Sabo's father came out from amidst the gathering of pirates, and it was now obvious who was behind the situation. "Sabo is my own flesh and blood! It is the duty of every child to live his life according to the wishes of the parents who brought him into the world! How dare you urchins convince my Sabo to run away from home!" It was as if the man thought that Sabo was his property. "Filthy pieces of trash... Is it my fortune you are after?!"

That, of course, pissed Ace off. "The hell did you say?!" He went to get up but one of Bluejam's minions hit him in the back of the head and knocked him back down.

"Useless pirates! Be more careful how you deal with those brats! You managed to get the blood of those filthy trashheap urchins on my cheek! How disgusting..." Sabo's father pulled a handkerchief out and wiped at his face. "I will have to clean it thoroughly."

Sabo couldn't take it anymore. His father was taking blowing things out of proportion! "Stop this already! They didn't convince me to run away from home! I ran away because I wanted to!"

"I'll hear no more from you!" His father actually raised his voice. The man turned away from Sabo, who had been let go, and faced Bluejam. "I leave the rest to you, pirates."

"But of course, sir. You have paid us well, after all." Bluejam grinned sinisterly. "I'll take care of these urchins. They won't be bothering your dear little boy again." He had plans to use the boys, not that Outlook III needed to know that.

"Hold on a minute! Bluejam!" Sabo didn't like the look the pirate captain had. It sent chills down his spine and made him feel queasy. "Father! I give up! I'll do as you say!"

"You'll do what, Sabo?"

"Sabo! Stop!"

"I'll do everything you tell me... I'll live my life however you want!" Even if he had to give up his freedom... So long as Luffy and Ace... "Just please... Don't harm Ace and Luffy!" They meant the world to him. "I'm begging you... They mean more to me than anything... They're my brothers!"

"Sabo!" Ace couldn't believe it. Sabo's father started to walk off, the pirates and the blond in tow. "Oi?! Where are you going?!" This couldn't happen. They had promised... "Get away from those guys! We'll be fine, you hear?!" Was it all for vain? "We're all going to become free men, aren't we?" Did their promise mean nothing anymore? "Are you going to let it end here?!" They just kept walking away, and not once did Sabo look back at them. "Sabo!"

* * *

After several long moments Dragon managed to calm himself enough to move away from the wall. He turned to face Sabo, who had a look of concern on his face, and gave the boy a slight scowl. "I'll be fine..." It would take time for him to truly get over his father's death, but Garp had chosen to walk that path.

"I didn't know him well, but whenever he would visit us as kids he would take us out to train." Sabo smiled faintly as he remembered Garp's  _training_. "He'd always hit us with his  _Fist of Love_  and tell us we needed to join the Marines." His voice grew bitter as he said Marines, him and all other Revolutionaries having no love for the Marines.

"He still calls it that?" A brief look of surprise flitted across Dragon's face then he chuckled and shook his head as Sabo nodded.

"It hurt like hell too... He treated me just like he did Ace and Luffy... Like I was his grandson." Even if Garp's methods were unorthodox, Sabo had finally known what it was like to have a grandfather..and a father. Dragon treated him just like he imagined he would treat Luffy. "I want to go to them..." Luffy was probably taking this the hardest.

Dragon looked down the hall toward the conference room, to check and see if anyone was going to come out, then motioned for Sabo to follow him. "I have one final mission for you." If his resources were right, then there was someone who could help reunite Sabo with his brothers. "There is a woman in Tequila Wolf. Her name is reported to be Nico Robin."

Nico Robin? From Luffy's crew? "What is she doing there?" Sabo followed Dragon out of the compound and down to the docks where a large ship was stationed. It was his own personal ship, and it was suspiciously stocked with supplies.

"She was sent there by Kuma-san before the operation to make him a government tool." How he had gotten that information Dragon would never tell. He had his ways of knowing, which was why he hadn't been too surprised when Ivankov informed everyone of Kuma's fate.

"He used the Paw Paw technique." Sabo winced upon remembrance of that particular technique. It had been quite an unpleasant experience for him, but it had made for good training. He had also acquired his Devil Fruit thanks to that one time, though he had to wonder if Kuma had known about the fruit being on that island. "Anyway, do I bring her back here first?"

"If she wishes to. Her ability to read the Poneglyphs would be a great asset for the army, but I will not have her forced to join." Dragon looked out at the ocean, his gaze settling on Amazon Lily's general direction, as if he could sense where his son was. "There are still decisions that need to be made."

Sabo too glanced where Dragon was looking and smiled. "I'll leave in the morning." He would need to gather a crew that could take on Tequila Wolf with him.


	7. Efforts Toward Glory: A Fetid Town

_"...Ever die, Ace...!"_

* * *

"Being born a Noble isn't something you can achieve if you work hard enough. It means you were born under some kind of lucky star!" Bluejam had brought them back to his ship, his crew along the perimeter to keep the brats from running. "Hell, I'd change places with the kid if I could... I would've loved to be born a Noble." He probably would have fit right in with them. "So... One of the legendary bratty trio was actually a noble all along, huh? To think he'd come all the way down from the Elite District to make fun of the trashheap... I'm sure he looked down on the both of you on the inside, as well."

Ace and Luffy's blood was boiling as Bluejam went on bad mouthing Sabo. "Don't be stupid! Sabo isn't that kind of guy!" Sabo was much better than such pettiness. "Yeah! We're his brothers!" Luffy's take on it was much simpler though.

"Fufufu... All right, all right. If you say so, but still..." Bluejam gave the boys a sinister grin. "You two had better not try going anywhere near him again..." He was already disobeying Outlook III's orders to kill the brats, regardless of Sabo giving up in exchange for their safety. "If you're planning on going after him, I'll have to kill the both of you here and now. If you care about that  _brother_  of yours you'll leave him be from now on."

"But Sabo hates living in the Elite District!" Luffy was still trying to argue it, the threats to his life going in one ear and out the other.

"Just forget about him. It's for the best. That's what they call kindness, you know... You'll understand that when you grow up." Bluejam seemed to calm a little, the sinister grin no longer present on his face, but the look in his eyes was still dangerous. "I still have a grudge to settle with you over the Porchemy incident..." He had been forced to kill a useful member of his crew thanks to these kids, and he intended to see that they repaid him for it. "...but I figure let bygones be bygones. Hell, you may be young, but you're strong, and I like that." He could dispose of the brats after they helped him with his task, and then he would no longer have to worry about piracy. "Now... I'm actually a little short on hands right now. Could the two of you give me a hand with a little job?"

The boys looked stunned at the offer, their dreams of becoming pirates seemingly a lot closer now more than ever. They had their doubts, of course but they soon gave a nod in acceptance. Bluejam pulled out a map of Gray Terminal and explained that he wanted them to help deliver boxes to all the locations that were marked with an X. The boys were soon off with the rest of Bluejam's crew to deliver the boxes in their first task as pirates.

"I don't want to carry on without Sabo..." said Luffy in a soft voice as he walked beside Ace. The seven year old was carrying a box in his arms and had one balanced on his head.

"Suck it up!" Ace scolded as he carried a box under each arm. "I feel the same way, you know, bit at the same time, I don't know what the best way is to make Sabo truly happy!" They could only hope that Sabo would find some measure of happiness on his own now. "So let's wait and see how things go! Sabo's strong-if he really wants to escape, then he'll be back and that's a fact!"

* * *

_"The hell's that supposed to mean?! Try worrying about yourself instead of me, dumbass!"_

* * *

Once they had gotten back to their treehouse, Ace and Luffy seemed to be at a loss. Everything was different now, Sabo's absence leaving them feeling incomplete. As they laid down for bed, both of them patched up from their beating that morning, Luffy stared up at the ceiling. "D'you think Sabo's all right?"

Ace gave Luffy a glance from over his shoulder from where he laid. A scowl formed on the ten year old's face, and he gave in to the irritation that had been building all day. "Shut up and get some sleep! We decided we're going to forget about Sabo for the moment, all right?" He didn't mean to snap at Luffy, but the younger boy was just so thick headed at times. "This could be what's best for him, after all..." He continued on, his voice softer as he made a statement that didn't sit well with him.

They slept uneasily that night, and once morning came, no matter how tired they were, they were back out at Gray Terminal, armed with their pipe staves. Bluejam grinned as they approached him, his crew gathered behind him. "Good to see you again, little ones..." There was a strong wind blowing, which would help make their job easier. "The big job goes down tonight. I'll tell you all the details later."

When later came, and Bluejam gave them the specifics of the job, both boys had been stunned. They had also given a shout of 'What?!' in surprise. After they clearly comprehended what was going to happen, Ace was the first to angrily respond. "Burn the trash heap to the ground?!"

"Keep your voice down, you stupid kid... What if the people from the trash heap heard you?"

"Why the hell would you want to do that?!" Ace continued, despite Bluejam's interruption, and Luffy was quick to follow him with a shout of, "This is bad! We've gotta tell the guys from the trash heap! These pirates are bad guys after all!"

"I thought I told you to keep quiet!" They were so ver close now to achieving his dream! He wasn't going to let these two brats ruin it now. "Hold them down, men!" Once his crew moved to secure the brats, which happened quite fast, Bluejam sneered. "It's not as if I'm the one behind this, you know. The boxes you've been laying around the trash heap these past couple of days are filled with oil and explosives. They'll cause a fire so large that no human stands a chance of escape." He grinned now, everything unfolding wonderfully. "I guess this was a bit much even for little terrors like yourselves, eh?" He walked closer to them as they stared up at him with anger. "But now that you know about the plan... We can't afford to let you walk away that easily." They wouldn't be walking away at all. "Before we set the place alight... There's something I've got to ask the two of you. You wouldn't happen to have a stash of treasure hidden away somewhere around here, would you?"

* * *

_"You're a hell of a lot weaker than me!"_

* * *

It was in the dead of night, the trash heap ablaze and an odor most foul wafting through the area. Bluejam and his crew had tied the boys up to a pole and Luffy pretty much spazzed out. Luckily, Ace had a plan, and as the rope fell away he dropped the sharp stone he had used to cut through it. "All right! I've cut the rope!"

"Hot~~! So hot~~! Where are we meant to run?!" Luffy whined from where he had flopped face first onto the ground. "Ugh! How did we get ourselves mixed up in this mess?!"

Ace, of course, got angry at Luffy's whining and turn on the seven year old with a scowl. "If you're gonna keep crying about everything, I'll leave you behind!"

Luffy, not wanting Ace to leave him, sucked up his fear as much as he could. "O-okay! It's n-not hot at all!" He followed after the older boy as the flames raged around them. "Aahhh! So hot! I mean it's not hot at all!" They stumbled up a mound of trash that hadn't fully caught aflame as they searched for a way out. "So hot! I mean - it's not hot at all!" The heat was increasing, and the smoke was making it hard for him to breathe. "It's like a sea of flames out there! It hurts to breathe... I mean, it doesn't hurt at all..."

Ace, who had been ignoring Luffy's whining and protestations, led them carefully through the flames. "We'll get through this somehow! You've got me, remember!" The blaze started to kick up and the path behind them disappeared. "Run for it, Luffy!" The ten year old took off, with Luffy behind him as the fires started to catch up.

* * *

_"Listen up, Luffy, and remember this!"_

* * *

Ace was silent for a long moment as he stared down at his plate of half-eaten food. Luffy had eaten everything else in sight and was staring at his plate too. There was a bit of drool at the corner of his brother's mouth, so the Mera Mera no Mi user sighed and pushed the plate over to the younger pirate. Nothing could come between the boy and food.

"You couldn't have known that they would do that, yoi," Marco spoke up in a soft voice, and his fellow crewmates nodded. Nobody had said anything up to that point, the insight that Ace was providing too precious to pass up. They now understood why Ace was so protective of Luffy, and vice versa. They had always known he had thought the world of his sworn brother, but they were starting to see that there was something more. The recollection wasn't anywhere close to finished, that much they could sense. Something terrible had happened.

"No, we didn't know... But we didn't have to help them in the first place." The thrill and rush of being part of a pirate crew had gotten to them. Ace glanced over to Luffy, who had finished the food and was scooting closer to him. He wrapped an arm around his brother, which pulled the younger pirate flush against his side. "We didn't have much of a choice though, since they outnumbered and overpowered us." It didn't help that they had done things unfairly either.

* * *

He had dreamt of that fateful day ten years ago, and hadn't slept too well. Dragon had noticed of course, and with one word (Goa), the older man too remembered. Sabo had eventually told him everything, from running away from his family, at which Dragon chuckled, to living with Ace and Luffy for half a year. The former Noble spared no detail, and at the end of it it, despite the flashes of anger that had crossed his face, the Revolutionary had thanked him.

Sabo yawned as he finished checking his supplies one last time, his borrowed crew readying the galleon to set sail. Everyone had come out to see them off, save for Ivankov and his  _Candies_. The  _Okama_  Queen had left for  _Momoiro_  some time in the night, leaving only a note that he was going to help a rumored crewmate of Luffy's. No doubt someone else who had fallen victim to Kuma's Paw Paw technique.

"We're ready to leave, Captain Sabo," the helmsman called down from the wheel. Everyone had reported in with the correct amount of supplies, so it was time to cast off. With a nod the helmsman, also his first mate, began shouting out orders. The Revolutionaries staying behind cheered them on and wished them luck in their mission.

Sabo couldn't keep the grin from his face as they started their voyage to Tequila Wolf. He was back out at sea, and he was on the path to reunite with his beloved brothers.


	8. Efforts Toward Glory: I Will Not Run!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the extreme lateness of this chapter. My soul sorta got sucked into Skyrim, followed by Far Cry 3, then Halo 4 and Fable 3. What's sad is I've beaten all of those games, except for Halo 4, and am now replaying them. What bit me in the ass and really got me hammering out this chapter was an update to an Ace/Lu story I've been following. It is currently being discontinued, which is saddening, but that status may or may not be questionable. I hate it when that happens, but I can understand why that one is being discontinued. I swore to myself that if I ever started a fic that I would see it through to the end.
> 
> Seeing the constant notifications that people are favoriting my stories and following them, as well as favoriting and following me as an author, has been a great motivation. I love the reviews too, and haven't gotten a negative one yet. Please give me your criticism. I want it. Point out if I get anything wrong! Most of all, tell me what you hope to see out of this story. I kinda have it all mapped out in my head, and I can see it when I write it. I really can! I'm just curious to know what you would hope to see happen.
> 
> These notes are almost done, if you've bothered to read through them. I'm kinda debating on Sakazuki using Garp's body, which Garp IS dead and is NOT coming back to life. I was thinking of Sakazuki having a cyborg, kinda what's been done to Kuma, made out of his body. It won't be seen anytime soon. Probably towards midway to the end of the story it will come to light. Yes? No? What do you think?

_"I'm not going to die!"_

* * *

The flames raged on around them and grew hotter with each passing minute. Ace didn't seem bothered by the oppressive heat in the least. He was still leading them through the burning trash heaps when they came to a dead end.

"Do you think the guys from the trash heap made it out in time?!"

Leave it to Luffy to worry about others at a time when he should have been worrying about himself. Ace even shouted as much, then followed it up with how difficult it was to pinpoint where they were in what had been the trash heap. They were both coughing from the smoke, pungent and black, and even though the heat didn't bother him, this did. Running into Bluejam ("And who gave you permission to run, you filthy brats?!") only angered him. "Huh?!"

Luffy was shocked to see the despicable pirate, enough so to say the man's name. He quickly took a defensive stance, and didn't have to glance at Ace to know that his brother had done the same. They had the worst of luck to be meeting up with Bluejam and his men in the sea of flames, especially with the pirates being armed to the teeth. "Why are the people who caused this fire in the first place still hanging around here?!"

"Surely they should have made their escape ages ago," Ace gritted out angrily and took up a defensive stance beside Luffy. Even though the pirates were looking worse from tramping through the burning trash heap, they were still every bit as dangerous.

"Shut your faces, brats! We're suffering through the depths of despair right now!" And whose fault was that? It was most certainly their own fault, trying to burn the trash heap in an attempt to better themselves. "Who'd've thought things would turn out like this? You know, humans are a strange kind of creature, don't you think? When we hit rock bottom, we can't help but stand there and laugh!"

The pirates had lost it. Ace certainly thought so, and part of him knew where this was going. "Luffy, let's get out of here!" He turned and started running from the group of pirates, his little brother hot on his heels. Two more pirates from Bluejam's crew appeared in their path as the captain shouted out orders to not let them escape.

"Don't you remember? We're pals, we are! We pulled off this whole job together!" Regardless of the fact that they had been tricked into it. "So it's only right that we should die together, an' all!" Bluejam smirked maliciously as the boys were surrounded. "You never did tell us where that treasure of yours is hidden..." Now that they had nothing left it was only the treasure that mattered. Treasure that they might not get to use. "We'll take it off your hands before it goes up in flames. So tell us where it's hidden!"

"You're worrying about treasure when your lives are in danger?!" Ace knew that their stash of money wasn't far enough away from the roaring flames raging through the Gray Terminal and the forest flanking it. By now it was probably all burned up.

"By that logic, why wouldn't you tell us, hm?" As the boys remained silent, Ace with a harsh look on his face, Bluejam chose to move closer to them. "If you're not gonna go collect it, then it'll all go to waste."

Ace stared at the pirate, his expression darkening while Luffy collected himself and angrily retorted, "Don't be stupid! That's the treasure that Ace and Sabo-" "All right. I'll tell you," Ace interrupted, causing his little brother to yell, " **Ace!** " Luffy turned to his brother and despite his shock shouted, "But you and Sabo worked your asses off for-" "I'm sure Sabo will understand!" Ace interrupted a second time, his grim expression set. "All that matters now is your... **is our own lives!** "

* * *

_"Uh-huh...!"_

* * *

Luffy, in the end, finished off Ace's plate of food once it was clear that the older pirate wasn't going to eat anymore. They had eaten a lot of food last night, thanks to the women of Amazon Lily. Even though many of them had been wary of Ace they had been happy to feed both of the brothers and watch in amazement as the two practically inhaled their food. It had been a lot of fun, too, and now, at least, he got to listen to Ace tell the story of how they grew up together. Remembering it all, it brought a faint smile to his face while tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

Ace absently tightened his grasp around Luffy while the young captain rubbed the salty liquid away before it could fall. Even though he hadn't gotten to that part in the story yet, the part he dreaded telling most, he couldn't help it when his mind jumped ahead of what he was saying. The memories of that day...of that moment, were playing on a constant loop in his head now.

Marco took all of this in while Ace gazed off into the distance, partially reliving the memories as he retold them. Luffy, on the other hand, had been attempting to keep himself busy by picking through the remainder if Ace's food. His eating pace had slowed down dramatically until there wasn't a morsel left for him to occupy himself with.

* * *

_"Sabo asked me to look after you, too... So I'm not gonna die, no matter what! That's a promise!"_

* * *

"What d'you think you're doing?!" Ace shouted as he struggled against the pirate holding him. Next to him was Luffy, also in the grasp of another pirate, who was forced to stay still from the threat of the knife in his face. "I told you where the treasure is!"

"And what if you were lying to me, eh? You're coming with us." Bluejam wasn't going to let them get away, even if they all died trying to reach the treasure.

"Don't be ridiculous! If you try to reach the treasure now, we'll lose our only chance to escape!" Ace was angry, more so now because he had told them the exact location of the treasure. The damn pirates had gotten what they were after in the end, so it was only fair that he and Luffy should be free to go! "If you want it that much, go after it yourselves!"

"Don't make me any more angry than I already am!" Bluejam shouted at them, gun drawn and aimed at Ace. "I've sworn that I'm not only going to live through this godforsaken mess, I'm going to take revenge on those stinking Nobles - even if I have to steal treasure from a couple of stinking urchins to do it! That so-called  _brother_  of yours is ust the same, you know! Every last one of them think that they're better than the rest of us! They don't think us common folk are any better than trash!"

 **That**  pissed Ace off like no tomorrow. He damn near got free of the pirate holding him as he tried to kick out at Bluejam. "Sabo isn't like that, you damn-"

"Oh yes he is, you brainless fool! He only hung around the two of you so he could enjoy feeling all superior! With parents as rich as his, what torments could he ever have had to face?!" All Nobles were the same, or so Bluejam thought. The idea of someone of Noble blood hating everything they stood for was impossible for him to imagine. "Face it! You were just being used as idle playthings for a Noble kid's amusement!  **Deep down, he was looking down on you, pinching his nose and laughing!** "

" **Don't you dare say one more word!** " Sabo wasn't like that at all! Ace knew it deep down in his very soul that Sabo meant every single word he had said about hating the Nobles. It was the Nobles who were the trash!

"That's right! All Sabo ever wanted was to be  **free**!" Luffy yelled out, just before he bit down hard into the arm of the pirate holding him. The pirate dropped him with a curse and Luffy immediately turned around, his pipe staff raised to defend himself with, as the pirate drew the sword strapped to his back. A single swing of the sword rendered the metal into halves and Luffy clutched at his forehead where the tip of the blade had knicked him.

" **Luffy**!" Ace watched, helpless and angry, as the pirate went in for the kill. His body trembled as something built up with his anger and the desperate need to save his otouto. " **DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH LUFFY!** " That something flowed out of him in an unseen wave and everything, everyone was still for a few seconds. Ace, weakened by this strange outburst, suddenly found himself laying on the ground, surrounded by fainted pirates. Bluejam was the only one left standing.

* * *

_"Like hell I could die and leave my weak little brother all on his own!"_

* * *

The remaining Whitebeard pirates seated around the tables started to whisper fervently as Ace described using  _Haō-shoku no Haki_. Marco looked gobsmacked. He had known Ace was very strong physically, and that his  _Mera Mera no Mi_  powers were an added bonus. That Ace was able to use  _Haō-shoku no Haki_  was news to him. With Luffy able to use it as well, if that display at Marineford was anything to go by, then the world was going to be in trouble once they learned how to master it. Luffy had a lot more to work on, and he didn't know how proficient Ace was with that type of  _Haki_.

"Oi. Be quiet, would y'all." Ace was scowling at the whispering pirates, though he understood why he still had to finish telling them about his and Luffy's past. He was dreading what came after that night at the trash heap, but the memories had already been stirred up.

* * *

_"Uh-huh... Uh-huh...!"_

* * *

"What did you just do, you filthy little urchin?!" Bluejam pressed his booted foot down into Ace's chest, to the point that it hurt to breathe. His gun was aimed at the boy's face while Luffy, still conscious, cried out for his brother. Someone, maybe the rubbery boy, shouted out 'Stop!' And then an axe was fending off his sword.

" **Give it up already, you stinking sea monsters!** " Curly Dadan, with a cigarette of all things firmly clamped between her teeth, knocked Bluejam the pirate back away from Ace. " **Get your hands off our Ace!** " She disengaged her axe from the pirate's sword and stood her ground while Ace rolled to his side, gasping for breath.

"Dadan!" Luffy looked up at Dadan first, the slowly took notice that all of her bandits were with her. "What are you all doing here?!" Dogra stood over him, inspecting his wounds to see he bad off he was. He was turned onto his back and Dogra said something about the wound the sword had made. "Dogra!"

"Isn't that Sabo kid with you?!" Dogra asked as he eased Luffy up into a sitting position.

"Sabo's safe... He's not with us...!" Luffy said weakly. A few feet away Ace got up, swaying slightly before he steadied himself.

"Why, you... You're the boss of those ruffians from Mount Corvo." Bluejam looked from Dadan to her bandits and then to Ace. Even though he was severely outnumbered, the bandits were weak. The only one that would give him a little difficulty was Dadan herself.

"I'm Dadan the Bandit! And for better or worse...I happen to be the guardian of these here brats!" She looked like she hadn't wanted to admit to that, but she had forced herself to declare it. "Now then...  **RUN FOR IT!** " She turned and started running while one of her men took Luffy for Dogra and they all followed after her with a 'YES, BOSS!' The bandit that had Luffy glanced back and called out for Ace to follow them.

"I..." Ace started off, Magra the only one who had stayed behind to grab Ace, if needed. "...WON'T RUN!"

* * *

_"I'm not all that smart, so I can't figure out what was really responsible for Sabo's death."_

* * *

"Ne, Ace-nii-chan," Luffy interrupted softly from his side. The young captain started to pull away, his expression blank. "I'm gonna go for a walk." He got up from the table and started walking towards the forests where none of the men were allowed to go.

"Okay, Lu." Ace watched as the Kuja stationed at the border stepped aside to let Luffy through, which floored nearly every man present, since majority of them were unfamiliar with Hancock's love-obsession with the young pirate.

"Is he gonna be okay, yoi?" Marco asked, concern written into his eyes as he looked from Ace to Luffy's vanishing back.

"He's stubborn, probably more stubborn than I am," he responded in a soft tone, his gaze growing distant again.

* * *

_"...but whatever it was, it must be something totally opposed to freedom! Sabo died without ever becoming truly free..."_

* * *

"What d'you think you're saying, Ace m'boy?!" Dogra shouted at him, having halted in the retreat because of the little brat. "You can't face these guys! Bluejam's strength isn't just for show, you know!" The bandit was hoping that Magra would just scoop Ace up and hightail it out of there. "He's beyond the level a kid like you has a hope of taking down!"

"I... I'm going too...!" Luffy struggled in the band it's arms, an attempt to dislodge himself so he could go help his brother. The bandit kept a firm grip on him however, which wasn't easy even with how wounded the boy was. "Oh no you don't, Luffy!"

"Men... You take Luffy and go on ahead," Dadan ordered, much to their surprise. They tried to argue with her, but she stopped them with a hard look. "I'll take full responsibility for Ace and see to it myself that he gets back safe and sound!" She made her way over to Ace, a white-knuckled grip on her axe. Magra ran past her to follow the rest of the bandits as she shouted at them to go. She stood beside Ace as her men obediently fled, with cries of 'You better be coming back, Boss, you hear me?!' on their lips.

"A woman and a child..." They could hear the conceited laughter in Bluejam's voice. A malicious grin broke out over his face. "If you start getting overconfident just because you're a little handy in a fight, you could end up a bloody mess." Much like that little brat being carried away currently was. "The only people who survive on the battlefield are the strong and the cowards." These two were neither, in his opinion. "The brave meet with early deaths... That's just how this world works!"

* * *

"Bluejam was so sure of himself... He never did escape to get the treasure..." Ace shook his head slightly and put the thought of the long gone treasure out of his mind. "Come morning, the people assigned to the clean up of Gray Terminal found only the bodies of Bluejam and his pirates. Even though we didn't get to warn the residents of the trash heaps, they escaped. Every last one of them."

"I heard that the Revolutionary Dragon, Luffy-kun's father, was there that night," Jinbe supplied from the end of the table. Several of the Whitebeard pirates nodded in agreement, being they had been in the crew longer and recalled hearing about the fires outside the walls of the Goa Kingdom that night.

"So, did you and Dadan beat Bluejam, yoi?" Marco asked and leaned on the table, his half-lidded gaze focused on Ace.

"No... We put up a hell of a fight, but we didn't beat him." Ace scowled slightly and propped his elbows on the table, his hands folded together so his chin could rest on them. "We barely escaped with our own lives..."


	9. Efforts Toward Glory: Sabo's Ocean

_"But we shared that drink with Sabo and we're still alive!"_

* * *

Luffy had wandered quite a ways into the forests of Amazon Lily, where after a couple of hours he came to a paw-shaped imprint in the ground. He stared at it with a look of recognition in his eyes, and he had to wonder if the same had happened to his beloved crew. Not once had he thought of them since he had learned of Ace's execution. He was a terrible Captain. Not only that, at the battle on Marineford he had nearly cost Ace his life, so he was a terrible brother too. The final piece... Grandpa Garp was dead now, having take the hit meant for him, that Ace would have taken if Garp hadn't pushed him out of the way. That made him a failure as a grandson.

It was all his fault. If he had been stronger, faster and smarter then Grandpa Garp would still be alive. He and his crew wouldn't have gotten separated. He was  **weak** , just like he had been back then.

* * *

_"So remember this, Luffy."_

* * *

" **ACE IS NOT DEAD!** " Luffy yelled at the top of his voice and tried to get around Magra once more. The bandit grabbed him by his shoulders and attempted to calm him, while at the same time keep him there.

"Now, now... I understand how you feel, but it's too dangerous for you to go back to the trash heap with the military on the lookout and your body in that state." Magra's tone was the one he used to try and calm the Boss with, even though there was a hint of worry in it. "The blaze was gigantic and the hopes may be slim, but..." He searched for the right words for a moment, looking just as lost as he and the other bandits felt. "We want to believe that our Boss and Ace are alive as well, you know! Dogra is out there right now, trying to scout out what's going on at the trash heap! Leave it to him!"

Luffy glowered with all he had, his teeth gritted together as he did his best to slip out of Magra's grasp. The band it's grasp on him was too strong, however, and he could do little more than glare and shout. Why couldn't they understand that Ace needed his help!

"This is hard for all of us, Luffy!"

* * *

_"No matter what, the two of us have to live our lives with no regrets!"_

* * *

"Hey! Everyone! They're back! They're both back!" One of the bandits shouted as he spotted Ace, then ran inside to alert the others. Everyone quickly swarmed outside to see for themselves Ace and Dadan coming up the path. The ten-year-old was carrying Dadan, much to their shock and surprise.

"ACE!"

"BOSS!"

"Thank goodness! You really were alive after all!" The bandits helped him get Dadan inside, where they prepared a bed for the bandit leader.

Luffy, in the meantime, all but threw himself at Ace, bawling his eyes out as he clung to his brother. He wailed out the older boy's name, and took no notice of his growing anger. "What... Did you think I was dead?" Luffy nodded furiously at the question. "I...!" A hit to his head, completely unexpected, and Ace's shout of "What're are you crying for?!" had him ducking away.

"Don't act like people are dead when they're not, dummy!" Ace huffed and glared down at Luffy, his fist raised for another hit, in case his little brother decided to carry on with his crying.

* * *

_"Yeah!"_

* * *

"On the night of the fire, we somehow managed to defeat Bluejam..." Ace began, omitting the fact that they had gotten of lucky by managing to outlast the pirate before he succumbed to fatigue. "But by the time we had, the fire had already blocked off all paths of escape." The fire was what had truly beaten Bluejam, and it had nearly claimed their lives too. If it hadn't been for Dadan... "Dadan was burned horribly getting us through the flames. We made it to the forest, out of the blaze's reach, and hid ourselves there." Ace sighed heavily, his gaze going to the bandits sitting around the room. "I snuck into the town to steal medicine and stuff... I did everything I could to keep Dadan alive..."

"Now, now..." Magra began, from where he knelt by Dadan's bedside. "I see... It's wonderful at least that you're both still alive. You get plenty of rest now, okay, Boss?"

"Sorry I made you guys worry," Dadan wheezed out and tried to move an arm. She winced from the pain of the action and let her arm drop back onto the blankets.

"Still, after what happened to the trash heap... I wonder if Sabo is worried about us..." Now that everyone was safe, Sabo was all Ace could think and worry about. There hadn't been any news from the blond boy, and it was tempting to go and rescue him from his family.

* * *

_"We're going to set out to sea someday...! Live our lives the way we want to...! With more freedom than anyone in the world!"_

* * *

"Ace... Back there..." Dadan began after a long while, her voice a little better now that she had rested some. "Why didn't you run?" She had seen something in him, something she had heard of once before from Garp.

"Sometimes... The blood just goes rushing to my head..." Ace stated softly, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. "I feel like if I run, I'll lose something important...and it scares me." So he couldn't run, especially if- "Back then, Luffy was right there..." -his little brother was in need of protection. Luffy wasn't as strong as him, so it was his duty to protect his little brother. Sabo's little brother.  **Their**  little brother. "Behind me. I'm not sure, but I think that was why."

Dadan remained silent for a long while as she remembered a conversation she had once had with Garp. It had been before Luffy had come to them, his hair black with streaks of white-gray on the sides.  _"Even if he found himself facing a massive army he couldn't hope to defeat..."_

* * *

_"I'm sure we'll end up making a lot of enemies on the way... Even Gramps will be our enemy! We'll be risking our lives!"_

* * *

"Roger would never run. He would always stand his ground." Garp grinned and took a swig of his favorite brand of Sake, his gaze going to the red-haired bandit woman. He was comfortably seated, his back to one of the old trees in the forest of Mount Corvo, while Dadan stood a few feet away, puffing on one of her cigarettes.

"What, did he have a death wish? Knowing when to run is an important part of battle." Dadan was baffled at why Roger would risk his life in such a way. It made no sense for the Pirate King to face hopeless odds.

"True enough, but he would never run." Garp lowered the bottle of Sake and mulled over his next words. "Because the people he loved were standing there behind him. If they all fled together, he would be placing his crew in danger alongside him. So perhaps it's not that he wouldn't run..." He took another swig from his bottle then expected the contents with a slight scowl. Damn, it was almost empty. "But that he would do anything he could to stop the enemy from going after his crew. He wouldn't let the enemy get away."

Despite he was low on his favorite Sake, Garp grinned dangerously as a faraway look entered his eyes, his mind back on the conversation at hand. "At times like that, Roger became a true demon! He was even know to wipe out an entire country's military, just because they spoke ill of his crew."

Dadan remained silent as she watched Garp. Seeing him like this, looking as if he were reliving a memory if some kind, gave her the chills. Garp was a scary man on his own. Someone like Roger, she could see the demonic image fitting him better than what all Garp was describing to her.

"Sure enough, he could be ferocious, short-tempered and selfish if you made him mad. But every action that he took was as simple and honest as that of a child." Garp drained the rest of the bottle then tossed it aside. "Perhaps because he grew up in circumstances not unlike those Ace is going through right now... He detested the thought of losing his loved ones above all else. It's the fact that he lived his life in that way and still had the luck to survive that made him the Pirate King." Garp lowered his head now, his expression somber. "The world may have seen him as the ultimate evil, but the trust he earned from his crew was immeasurable. Even I, as a Marine soldier, couldn't bring myself to hate the man. That's why I decided to take in Ace."

" **We're the ones who've taken in Ace!** " Honestly, the gumption that man had. He had forced Ace upon them!

"What's that? You have some kind of problem?" Oh shit.

"N-no, not at all!"

* * *

_"But when we turn seventeen, we set sail!"_

* * *

Outside, Luffy was observing two beetles on the top of a barrel. It didn't take much for him to notice Dogra walking up to the house, no doubt coming back from scouting for Ace and Dadan. "Dogra! You've been out looking for Ace and the Boss, right?! They both came back just fine!" He got up from the barrel and excitedly waved the stick he had been using to prod the beetles with.

"I... Is that right? Well, that is good news!" There was something off with Dogra, and as he went into the hideout, looking rather dazed, Luffy followed him inside. The bandit spent several minutes going over everything he had observed, and when he had finished there was a stark silence. Ace, Dadan and Luffy all stared at him, expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces.

" **THAT'S A STINKING LIE!** " Ace was the first to react, and he did so violently. The ten-year-old leapt at Dogra and started punching him. " **YOU DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT!** "

"It's no lie, and certainly no joke! It was so sudden, even I barely knew what was happening..." Dogra tried to explain, which slowed Ace down and even got him to stop hitting the bandit. " **I doubted my own eyes! I thought I had to be dreaming, or hallucinating!** " He sat up and pushed Ace off of himself, giving the kid a half-hearted glower. "Luffy... You told me that Sabo was taken by his parents, back to his old home, right?" Luffy gave a faint nod and Dogra continued. "But for rogues like us, it's easy to understand... There are some places a guy just can't bear to return to!  **If he had been happy there...would he have tried to set out to sea?! Would he have gone out there alone, flying that pirate flag?!** "

"Sabo! He wasn't happy after all!" Luffy wailed out, while Ace sat down and held his head. "Why didn't we go and take him back while we had the chance?!" He stayed like that for a moment, then he was going at Dogra once again. "WHERE'S THE MAN WHO KILLED SABO?! I'LL GO AND MURDER HIM RIGHT NOW!" He let go of the bandit and quicker than anyone could realize he had a pipe staff in hand and was racing toward the door. "I'M GOING TO AVENGE HIM!"

"Stop right there, you filthy brat." Dadan, which shocked everyone, was quick to move from her bed and to slam Ace face first into the floor. He yelled at her, tried to attack her, but she got a firm grip on him and ground out, "Always acting so damn tough even though you're not as strong as all that! What could you possibly do if you went out there right now?! You'd just get yourself killed!" And they couldn't stand to lose him too! "You'd die, and by the next day the world would have forgotten you!" She spoke the truth, as painful as it was. Nobody, outside of their little family of bandits, Luffy and Garp would miss Ace. "That's all you amount to right now!"

"Who killed Sabo?! It was this  **country**!  **This world!**  You think you can do a damn thing about that?!" She was in Ace's face now, her voice hoarse and angry. Her eyes, though, were sad. "When your old man died, he died bring in a  **whole new age**! I won't have you running off to your death until you're a great enough man to do the  **same**!" Dadan was breathing heavily now, and she was so very tired. She tossed Ace to her men, who readily held onto him should he try to run. "Tie this idiot up, men..."

Meanwhile, Luffy was still crying, and wailing out Sabo's name. He had been at it for a long while now, and Ace could hear him from the tree he had been tied to outside of the hideout. The ten-year-old had heard enough of the bawling, and though he couldn't move, his mouth was still free. "Shut up already! Real men don't sit around crying, Luffy!" It was no use.

* * *

**_"We're going..."_ **

* * *

"Have you cooled your head off yet, Ace?" It was morning now, and Dadan had come outside to check on him. Several of her bandits had gathered outside, mostly the ones who had gone out scouting. "Where's Luffy," one of them asked. "He spent the whole night crying... He's fallen asleep now." And thank goodness for that. She was sure he had cried his throat raw.

"Boss!" Dogra came running up, a News Coo flying right behind him. "This letter just arrived!" He held up a piece of paper for them to see. "It's from Sabo! It looks like he sent a letter, right before he set out to sea!"

"Give it to me!" Ace suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I swear I won't go into the town..." He wouldn't! The letter was more important right now, or so he told himself. "That letter's for us, right?!" It had to be.

After a silent discussion amongst themselves, Dadan and her bandits agreed to let Ace down. The letter was handed over to the boy and they watched as he walked off to the cliffs.

Ace read the letter along the way, the envelope discarded far behind him. The letter read:

_Ace, Luffy... You weren't hurt in the fire, were you? I'm worried about you, but I have faith that you're all right. I feel kind of bad telling you this, but by the time you read this letter... I'll already be out at sea. One thing led to another, and it looks like I'll be setting sail ahead of you guys._

_As for where I'll go... Anywhere outside of this country is fine by me. Once I arrive, I'll get stronger, and become a real pirate. Once all three of us have become pirates, with more freedom than anyone in the world, let's meet again someday. Somewhere out there in the wide, open sea, I know I'll see you both again!_

_One more thing, Ace. I wonder which of us is the oldest? It's a bit strange, to have two eldest brothers and one younger brother, but this bond is my greatest treasure. Luffy may still be pretty weak, and a bit of a crybaby..._

_But he's our little brother. Look after him for me._

* * *

**_"...to be pirates!"_ **

* * *

For a bunch of grown men, who could take most of anything, every single one of them had tears in their eyes. There was a lot of throat clearing and people rubbing at their eyes, all save for Ace. He sat there, staring at his hands, the tears evaporating off of his cheeks as he recalled Sabo's letter with perfect clarity. The reminder of his promise that he made to Luffy, and Sabo's instructions to look after their little brother had him looking around.

How long ago had Luffy left for a walk? A glance up at the sky showed that a couple of hours had passed, and though Luffy could look after himself, he couldn't help but worry. No one stopped him as he bolted into the forest. Jinbe, in fact, followed after him, as did Marco and a few of the other Division Commanders. They lost sight of him pretty quickly, but following his trail, one of leaves charred by his passing, was easy.

It took them twenty minutes to follow Ace's trail to the sound of sobs. He had found Luffy all right, and the both of them were sitting in the bottom of a strange, almost crater-like indentation shaped like a paw print. Ace held the young Captain, and rocked him as they both cried. Luffy's sobs were louder, though.

"I'm no Pirate King!" Luffy all but wailed out. "I'm still so  **weak**!"


	10. My Little Brother

"I CAN'T PROTECT A SINGLE THING!" Luffy's crying only escalated, to the point that his screams scared away the wildlife in the area. He did his best to crawl out of Ace's lap, but his older brother had a firm grasp on him. "Luffy..."

"GO AWAY!" He didn't want his brother to see him like this. "LEAVE ME A-"

Ace clapped a hand over Luffy's mouth, and despite the anger he felt at Luffy's brush off, he was more worried for his little brother than anything. "Don't." His voice carried a bit of his anger, and he regretted it instantly at the look of pain Luffy gave him. "Lu, please. Please don't push me away." This wasn't the Luffy he had grown up with, and it was shocking to suddenly realize that he had grown even more since Alabasta. "I'm here for you, Lu."

Luffy trembled against his brother and sobbed into Ace's hand. When it was clear that he wasn't going to fight, or try to pull away, his brother wrapped the arm back around him and pressed his chin into Luffy's hair. "I still have you... Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky and Brook." He missed his friends, dearly. "We promised we would meet up again at Sabaody." At their current state though... The same thing would only happen again. "I want to see my friends."

Ace didn't say anything. He just kept rocking the young Captain while his own fellow crewmates let them be. Jinbe, sat down a ways away from them, and he couldn't help but recall a conversation he had with the Fishman in the depths of Impel Down. "We'll see them again. Together, Lu. Me and you, okay?" They both had to get stronger though.

Luffy nodded and sniffled loudly, his sobs having drastically quieted down now. The thought of seeing his friends, it made him happy. Still, he couldn't be selfish and risk all of their lives just because he wanted to see them. "We need to get stronger, Ace-nii-chan."

Ace hummed in agreement and glanced over to Jinbe. "Shall we go back to the ship and start making plans, Lu?" The Fishman seemed content to watch over them for now, not that there was anything in this forest that would attack them.

" _Hai~_. I need to go find..." Luffy frowned as he tried to remember the name of that old man that had helped them out on Sabaody. After a moment he remembered the name and grinned. "I need to find old man Rayleigh. I have a part of his Vivre Card!"

Ace and Jinbe had both stiffened at the mention of Rayleigh. They both looked at Luffy, who only grinned. Ace sighed and stood up, Luffy still very much in his arms. "Let's head back then." Maybe it wasn't  _that_  Rayleigh he was talking about. The odds of Luffy meeting the Dark King... Well, they were pretty high. Still.

* * *

On the coast of Amazon Lily, Law and his crew were watching the seas from the cliff of the area they were allowed to step foot in. A Sea King had appeared, and it was fighting something that they couldn't see. Seconds later it was dead, and they were commenting about it all the while wondering what had killed the Sea King. There was motion down on the beach that drew their attention, and to their amazement a man stepped out of the water.

"Dear me..." The man walked onto the beach quite calmly, as if he hadn't known about the Sea King out in the waters of the Calm Belt. He easily climbed up to where Law was, even a few of Whitebeard's crew was coming over out of curiosity. "Ah, I know you people... We met at the Sabaody Archipelago." Murmurs went through the gathered crowd of pirates, while Law just sat there in stoic silence. "Well, you see... I ran into a nasty storm out at sea. My boat sank, so I had to swim the rest of the way." There was a shocked silence as everyone processed that information. Rayleigh took it as his cue to add in, "My body doesn't move the way it used to... I really am getting old."

The silence was broken by one of Law's crewmen, who had come to a startling conclusion. "A storm?! There are no storms in the Calm Belt! Which means...your boat sank outside the Calm Belt, and you actually swam all this way?!" Startling indeed. "Then the one who was fighting with that Sea King... Was that you as well?!"

Rayleigh merely smiled. "Mm... Now then. I'm guessing that Luffy-kun is somewhere to be found on this island?"

* * *

In the center of the island, the Kuja whom had stayed behind in Boa Hancock's palace were chatting away. The latest topic, of course, was their Princess, who had left with a cart full of food for her beloved Luffy on the news that he had awakened. Elder Nyon, who was accompanying Hancock, had forbidden her to go visit Luffy when he had first awakened, and instead had her send a few of the Kuja with food. She had taken the time to try to explain a few things to the Princess, but she had found it to be like talking to a brick wall.

Now that Elder Nyon had finally relented, Hancock quickly made it her business to have a large meal prepared, just for Luffy, for her to take down herself. The Kuja were happy, and their talk soon turned to Luffy, whom they couldn't wait to have come visit again. It was more for the fact that they wanted to  _stretch_  him, and continue studying the oddity that was man.

"As I keep telling you,  _Hebihime_. Just because the boy embraced you does nyot mean that you are married!" Elder Nyon felt like it was impossible to get Hancock to listen, her words generally falling on deaf ears. Thankfully the Princess hadn't heard of Luffy's late night foray into their city with his brother in tow. Oh what a scandal  **that**  would have been.

"Then what does one need to do to become married?!" There were hearts in Hancock's eyes, and her voice, though questioning, hadn't lost that dreamy quality to it.

Elder Nyon sighed. She should have figured that  _Hebihime_  would eventually ask  **that**  question. "Hmm... That's a difficult question." Feigning ignorance would put off this question for a while.

* * *

When they arrived to the cliffs where Law's submarine had been docked, alongside the Whitebeard Pirates' surviving paddle ship, there was a small crowd gathered. The crowd largely consisted of Ace's crewmates, with the remainder made up of the Kuja who had been standing guard at the curtain border. Ace briefly marveled at how ineffective the guardswomen were, seeing as quite a few men had just gone in and out of the forest beyond the designated border. He shook his head and made his way through the crowd with Luffy still in his arms.

"Whaaa?! Old man Rayleigh?!" was Luffy's outburst as soon as they made it through the crowd. Ace stopped cold in his tracks, Jinbe right behind him, when the man of legend turned to look at them.

"Ah! Luffy-kun. It's good to see you again." They were absolutely floored, and the Whitebeard Pirates had a similar reaction to the casual conversation that was being held.

"What are you doing all the way out here? I was just about to head back out to Sabaody Archipelago by following the Vivre Card!" Luffy wriggled a bit in his brother's arms, though it wasn't an indication of him wanting to be put down. He was quite warm and comfortable like this. He just wanted to be able to see Rayleigh better. "Where are the others?!"

"Well I doubt they have all been reunited just yet," Rayleigh stated, though he knew full well that they weren't going to meet up any time soon. "I left my own Vivre Card with Shakky." The old man grinned. "I could hardly move about freely otherwise, you see."

From behind Ace Jinbe trembled slightly, his gaze disbelieving as he tried to comprehend that  _Rayleigh_  was sitting in front of them. " _Dark King_  Rayleigh... Are you truly him?!" His disbelief wavered when it became clear that the man in front of them was flesh and blood. "I am astonished!"

"Here... This hat means a lot to you, yes?" Rayleigh picked up the old straw hat from where it had been sitting on the ground by him, a slightly crumpled rectangle of paper tucked into the ribbon, and got up. He carried it over to Luffy, who took it with a small smile.

"Yeah, thanks..." Luffy held the hat to his chest and glanced up to Ace, who was looking around like they had forgotten something. The rubbery pirate blinked and glanced around too, as if noticing that something was out of place.

"Were there not a group of other pirates here?" The remaining Whitebeard Pirates were still present and accounted for. The Kuja that were supposed to be guarding the curtain border were also present.

"If you mean Trafalgar Law, he set sail just a short while ago. He told me to tell you to make sure you rest for another two weeks." Rayleigh let his gaze go back to Luffy as he relayed that last bit of information. The old man was still grinning though. "Looks like your life is out of danger."

Yeah. Sure. Ace glanced down at the seventeen year old pirate in his arms, who was almost completely wrapped from head to toe in bandages. Though his brother was quick to recover from most things, he had been through a hell of a lot in the past couple of weeks. He still wasn't fully healed from his trials in Impel Down. "Luffy still has a ways to go before he's fully healed."

Luffy, who wasn't paying attention to the conversation at hand anymore, was looking around and sniffing the air. He started to squirm in his brother's grasp as a wonderful scent drifted towards them through the air. Breakfast had been a few hours ago, but Luffy could eat until stuffed and then a short while later be completely hungry again.

It wasn't long before everyone present also noticed the wonderful aroma of food, and to their shock, excluding Luffy's, Boa Hancock and her sisters arrived with a cartload of food. "Rayleigh?! Is that..." Elder Nyon, who had walked the entire way, was the first of the newly arrived women to notice Rayleigh's presence. "Is that you, Rayleigh?!"

"Ah... Gloriosa! This certainly brings back memories!"

Sandersonia and Marigold also took notice of the man who had protected them in their younger years, after their escape from the _Tenryuubito_. They greeted him while Hancock went to swoon over Luffy. She didn't even seem to see Ace, who recognized her from when she came to see him at Impel Down.

**He**  frowned slightly and tightened his grasp around his brother, not sure if he could trust her, but then Luffy was out of his arms. Ace watched as Luffy went straight past the swooning Hancock, who was obviously in love with  _him_ , and over to Sandersonia, Marigold and Rayleigh. All around, the remnants of Whitebeard's crew were swooning over the Pirate Empress, who only had eyes for Luffy and was strangely enough running a finger over one of the melons packed into the cart of food.

He found himself scowling, though the why of it was beyond him. Nearby, Gloriosa muttered something about marriage that had Ace feeling a little baffled. Marriage? Who was getting married? His gaze flicked from the wizened old lady to the lovestruck Hancock and then finally to Luffy. No way.

Everyone, save for Jinbe and Hancock, turned to look at him, expressions of confusion on their faces, while the Fishman attempted to snag some food from the cart. Hancock snapped something at him, but it was lost on  **him**  as Luffy declared, " _Sugoi_ , Ace-nii-chan is on fire! Hey, I didn't know you could turn blue, Ace..." Ace was on fire... Ace was blue?

"Huh?" Ace blinked and looked down to see that he was indeed on fire, the usually yellow-orange flames an alarming shade of blue. It wasn't the light blue that Marco's flames were composed of. It was blue, like the ocean. "Oh..." Why was he on fire? And why the hell were his flames blue?!

" _Ne_ , Ace. I've heard of  **green**  with envy, but I've never heard of  **blue**  with envy, yoi," Marco commented with an all knowing smirk. He had been watching the brothers for a while now, and it was so very easy to read Ace. Luffy, though simplistic and straightforward, was unpredictable.

Envy! Ace scowled darkly and shot a blue fireball at Marco. The Phoenix Fruit User absorbed the fireball, but did so with a grimace and patted the spot where it had impacted. "That actually stung, yoi," he all but complained.

Ace felt a little guilty and his flames died out, going from blue to red and finally back to their usual yellow-orange mix before they vanished. " _Gomen ne_ , Marco." He didn't mean for it to hurt his  _Nakama_.

"Don't worry about it, yoi. I'll be fine." Marco's tone was lighthearted, and the Whitebeard Captain smiled as he did his best to get Ace to ease up. "Let's all eat."

"YOU WILL NOT!" Hancock stood between the crowd of men and the cart of food, her body bending back as she looked down upon the men standing in front of her. "THIS FOOD IS FOR LUFFY ONLY!"

Everyone blinked and backed away from the enraged Pirate Empress, except for Luffy who went from awing over Ace to stuffing his face. He paused and glanced at Hancock, his eyes wide and innocent. " _Ne_ , Hancock?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" Hancock swooned and turned to Luffy with a full blush on her face. The Pirate Empress looked like a lovestruck girl, ready to cater to her crush's every whim.

"Can Ace-nii-chan have some?" Luffy sucked the meat off of the bone in his mouth and swallowed, his gaze still fixated on Hancock.

"Absolutely!"

* * *

Once the food issue was sorted out, the Whitebeard Pirates cooking for themselves and Jinbe, Rayleigh called out to Luffy. "Luffy-kun, you said that you were going to head out for Sabaody from here, yes?"

Luffy looked thoughtful for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "I have to meet up with my crew!" No doubt they were all on their way back to Sabaody, from wherever Kuma had sent them.

"Are you absolutely certain about that?" The way Rayleigh asked that particular question made Luffy pause. The old man's countenance had changed completely, and his tone serious. "I am sure you remember what happened to you all on that island." Luffy did remember, and his upset expression was a very good indication of that. "Do you want to meet up with your friends, only to have that happen again?" Rayleigh waited a moment, so it could sink in to Luffy's mind as to what he would be putting his crew through, should they return to Sabaody. "I have a proposal for you, Luffy-kun." His gaze flicked to Ace, who was watching him closely. "And you as well, Ace-kun. Naturally, it is entirely up to both of you, whether to accept it or not."

* * *

" _Oyaji_..."

Ace knelt in front of Edward Newgate's grave, slightly hunched over as he stared, unseeing, at the pristine white marble of the tombstone. He had been there since the funeral, and well after everyone had gone back to their ships. Marco had stayed after for a bit, before he finally left to rejoin their  _Nakama_ , but  _Akagami_  was still with him. The man had stayed silent for the entire time, his gaze never wavering from the brash younger pirate's form.

"I should have listened to you... I shouldn't have gone after Teach."

Shanks leaned slightly so he could better hear the soft spoken words coming from Ace. At the mention of Teach he became more alert and his gaze sharper. His scars tingled slightly and a scowl settled on his face.

"I didn't know what I was getting into...but when he told me that he had tried to go after  **Luffy**... I..."

The  _Yonkou_  stiffened and his mood darkened dramatically.

"I definitely couldn't let him get away after that... Not when he involved  **my brother**."

Something would have to be done about Teach. With the powers of the  _Yami Yami no Mi_ , and now the  _Gura Gura no Mi_ , Teach was going to be very dangerous. Luffy must have crossed paths with him once already, and would surely do so again. Shanks still had to repay Teach for the scars the man gave him.

"I'm joining Luffy's crew,  _Oyaji_. I already talked it over with Marco, so when I leave here I'm going to go train with Luffy and Rayleigh."

Rayleigh? First Mate Rayleigh? Well now. Shanks started to grin a little and wondered just what Rayleigh would be teaching the boys. No doubt how to use Haki. That would certainly help them in the long run, but it would take years to learn the basics! He'd be an old man by the time Luffy got to him!

" _Ne_...  _Oyaji_... I'm sorry I was such a troublesome and bratty son... Thank you for putting up with me and for loving me. You'll always be my father."


	11. Far Apart United Hearts

_In the New World..._

  
He was warm, but a deck he couldn't remember falling asleep on wasn't very comfortable to keep sleeping. Sure, he'd slept on worse, Impel Down's Level 6 the absolute worst he'd ever experienced, but he recalled having a  **narcoleptic**  fit in front of  _Oyaji's_  grave after his little farewell speech. With a frown he pushed his favorite hat -- which had been retrieved by his Nakama from Banaro Island along with the rest of his effects -- up from over his eyes and sat up.

  
"Ah, look! Ace-kun is up! Ne, Ace-kun, look at today's paper!"

  
Ace blinked. Shanks was right in front of him, holding up a paper and grinning like a child in a candy store. How long had the man been standing there? More importantly, what was so interesting about the newspaper? He took the offered paper and glanced over the headline. His gaze flicked to the picture on the front page before he paused and reread the headline. Next he studied the picture and a grin spread across his face along with a look of understanding. "You're a genius, Lu." Hopefully his  _Nakama_  would get the message too.

  
"Gotta go, Shanks-san! Gonna go meet up with Luffy and Rayleigh!" He leapt to his feet and dashed to the railing of the ship. Ace jumped onto the rail and glanced down. Tied to the ship was the Striker, and he knew there was only one person who knew he was this predictable. Marco... With a glance over to where the paddle ship was anchored, he caught sight of Marco smirking at him. Ace waved then jumped down onto the Striker.

 

* * *

 

  
_Atop an enormous bridge in East Blue..._

  
They rode in silence, Sabo watching her as she studied the ruins along the bridge from the window. Nico Robin was determined to meet back up with her Nakama, and he couldn't blame her. He desperately wanted to go see Luffy and Ace himself, but they couldn't go any faster than they were already going and he still had to report back to Dragon about Robin's refusal to come to Baltigo.

  
There was a rap on the window, drawing him out of his thoughts. Sabo twisted slightly to open the window and he took the paper from the carriage driver. "Here, this is for you." He held it out for Robin, who looked at it questioningly as she took it. The former noble closed the window as the archaeologist unrolled the paper and started to read it.

  
"Luffy!" That caught his attention and he tried to peer at the paper in her hands. She made a quick study of the picture on the front page, a smile starting to spread on her face, and then handed the paper to her captain's brother for him to look at.

  
Sabo read the headline and blinked, the smiled as his gaze flicked to the photo. "He sure does know how to cause an uproar." He noticed a marking of some sort on his brother's arm and frowned.  _3D2Y_. The 3D was crossed out... "Two years?"

  
"It's a message to our  _Nakama_ ," Robin explained, and when he thought about it it made sense. "I will return with you back to Baltigo, Blue Gentleman-san."

  
Now he understood the two years. Well, he could wait a little longer.

 

* * *

 

  
_Among the clouds in Paradise..._

  
Chopper relaxed on the soft feathers of his giant bird friend from the  _Torino Kingdom_  in South Blue. The wind felt nice going through his fur and he was half-tempted to go asleep. Getting the giant birds and human inhabitants to stop fighting each other had been quite exhausting. He started to close his eyes when he spotted a News Coo flying near them. "Ah, a News Coo! May I have a paper please?"

  
The Coo flew closer and handed a paper over to him. Chopper gave the Coo the required payment and waved as the Coo flew off to deliver more papers. The reindeer smiled and opened the paper to the front page. His expression quickly turned to one of shock and then confusion. "Why, Luffy?!" The giant bird glanced back at him curiously as he set about to reading the article. Once he was finished he studied the picture of Luffy and blinked. "Oh... Oh! I've got it Luffy!"

  
He hadn't expected the sudden change in plans, as he was sure he would be leaving the Torino Kingdom behind for a long while, but he had the giant bird turn around as he dressed up in a disguise.

 

* * *

 

  
_Kamabakka Kingdom on Momoiro Island in Paradise..._

  
Sanji felt like he'd been through hell and back, and that was from just a fight against the Okama Queen, Emporio Ivankov. He had no idea the man...er...well, Okama was so strong. He hadn't even landed a hit on Ivankov while he himself had been utterly thrashed. Now he was stuck here, on this hellish island...oh what a nightmare.

  
The chef scowled and glared up at the sky, only for a paper to be stuck in his face. Sanji blinked and sat up then took the newspaper from Ivankov. It was already unfolded, so he took a look at the headlines and the picture. A full minute of silence passed by, Ivankov staring at the paper over his shoulder, before he grinned and murmured softly, "I see... Luffy." It looks like he would be training, in hell of all places.

  
Ivankov, though not fully understanding what was going on with the curly-vurly boy and the paper, knew that training was about to ensue. The Okama Queen grinned and held out a hand to help Sanji up. "Let's go eat something refreshing, Curly-vurly boy." Little did Sanji know, when he would ask about the food, that he would be entering the a new kind of hell.

 

* * *

 

  
_Shikkearu Ruins on Kuraigana Island in Paradise..._

  
Zoro squinted at the paper being held over his head by the annoying ghost-girl Perona. She was quite different from when he had met her on Thriller Bark, and had even been the one to do his bandages, as inexperienced as she was with them. He vaguely wondered if Mihawk had sent her out here to him, seeing as there was news about his Captain.

  
The message that Luffy was trying to send out to him and their other Nakama, whatever it was he didn't see it. Perona was starting to whine about her arms hurting, but he still hadn't found the message he knew was in the photo. "Just give me a minute. There's a message in here somewhere," he grumbled, eyes scanning the picture over for the hundredth time.

 

* * *

 

  
_On Boin Archipelago in Paradise..._

  
The now extremely overweight Usopp read through the article about his Captain with a new fire in his heart. He understood the message perfectly clear, and with his new determination he knew precisely what he was going to do now. "I get it!! I get it, Luffy!!!" Heracles, who was trying to read the paper as well, was utterly confused and still trying to convince him that they couldn't leave the island.

  
Usopp was going to leave the island, regardless of what the beetle-like man said. Once he was done with his training he knew he would have the necessary skills that his Captain would need. The young sharpshooter had to train until he was the absolute best sniper in the whole world! Luffy was going to become Pirate King, without a doubt in his mind, and he needed the best sniper in the world at his side! Usopp wanted to live up to his self proclaimed title of Sogeking.

 

* * *

 

  
_On the Sky Island of Weatheria..._

  
"I can't believe this!". No way. She was going to kill that brainless Captain of hers when she met up with him again. Honestly, as interesting as Weatheria was, she didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of stuffy old men who had no clue as to haggle for the services they could provide. "Doesn't he have any consideration for others?!!"

  
She knew what Luffy was telling them, and damnit, she was going to charge him for the troubles she was going through. Stuffy old men. She really would have to give back all of the stuff she had stolen, for now at least. This sucked.

 

* * *

 

  
_On Karakuri Island in Paradise..._

  
Charred and a bit irritated at himself for blowing up Vegapunk's first lab, even though the Marines had been chasing him, Franky grudgingly took the latest newspaper from a very cold News Coo. Kitton and his grandfather were freaking out over his current appearance, which he understood was a bit scary as his flesh had been burned off. He opened the paper and blocked out the ruckus the two were making. His Captain was on the front page, and causing quite a stir for the Marines himself.

  
Franky grinned after finding the message Luffy was trying to convey and turned to find his two rescuers still freaking out. Maybe he should cover up his face.

 

* * *

 

  
_Tēna Gēna Kingdom on Kenzan Island in Paradise..._

  
Brook was at a loss on what to do. He had been successfully captured by the Longarm Tribe and taken to their homeland. They were putting him on display for being a moving skeleton, though they hadn't realized it was because of a Devil Fruit. At least they were thoughtful enough to untie him when they put him in the cage, and they even gave him a newspaper. As one of the Longarms began announcing an introduction from beyond a curtain to show him off, Brook found the message in the photo. So that was what the Captain was thinking.

 

* * *

 

  
_Two weeks later on Rusukaina Island in the Calm Belt..._

  
Ace grinned as he landed on the shore of the Island where his little brother was. The Kuja had gladly directed him here, an oblivious Hancock eager to see Luffy happy because of something she had done. The  _Mera Mera no Mi_  user almost felt sorry for using her in such a way. Almost. Were she not so lovesick over  **his**   _otouto_ , he wouldn't have even thought of feeling sorry for her. Then again, maybe he should. Luffy had been quite clear in how he felt, and he certainly didn't feel that way about Hancock.

  
His cheeks warmed slightly as he remembered his brother's straightforward confession. It was so like Luffy. He should have known that he was one hundred percent serious, because Luffy didn't play around with feelings. He did need to make himself more clear to Hancock though...

  
Ace pulled his Striker out of the water and high up onto the sand, well out of the tide's highest reach. Once he had his one man boat taken care of he turned to see Rayleigh watching him from the edge of the forest. A grin was stretched across the old man's face, his arms folded over his chest. He dashed over to Rayleigh and briefly wondered where Luffy was.

  
"You'll need to leave your things with Luffy-kun's hat, so it won't get damaged." Leave his... With Luffy's most treasured hat? It was very rare that Luffy didn't wear that old straw hat. Simply knowing he had left it somewhere so it wouldn't get damaged... His brother was giving it his all.

  
Ace followed the Dark King to where Luffy's hat was and he gently picked it up. His Vivre Card was still tucked behind the ribbon, and seeing it there made him smile. He took his own hat off and placed it where the straw hat had been, then put Luffy's hat down over his. His zebra-printed bag and his dagger were laid down at the base of the stone, for safe keeping as well.

  
"Now we can get down to business, Ace-kun. Like I told Luffy, every animal here on  _Rusukaina_  is stronger than him. There are more than five hundred animals living here, and he couldn't hope to defeat a single one." Well, that was true for when they had first landed on the island. Luffy was steadily gaining in strength. "You are stronger than your brother, Ace-kun, and you would fare better than Luffy would against the weaker animals. Still, a great number of the stronger animals would be too much for you to handle. You too will train to learn  _Haki_ , so you can avoid any more near-death situations in the future. This will also help to strengthen your Devil Fruit powers."

  
Ace blinked and frowned as he took in the information. He had been to the New World plenty of times, and had just returned from there. To hear that he was weaker than some animals living on an island in the Calm Belt along Paradise was unsettling. "This  _Haki_...  _Oyaji_  and Shanks used it. A good number of the Division Commanders could use it too. You're saying you can teach me and Luffy  _Haki_?"

  
"Yes. I can teach both of you the first two forms of  _Haki_. The third is one that can't be taught, though if you have it, it can be mastered." And Ace did have  _Haō-shoku Haki_  from what he could tell. Now it was a matter of getting him to unlock  _Kenbun-shoku Haki_  and  _Busō-shoku Haki_. That was often easier said than done. "Let's go join Luffy-kun and get you started on the training."


	12. Two Years: Year One

_Rusukaina: The First Month_

  
Even though he had been two weeks late in starting the  _Haki_  training, Ace had caught up quite well with what Rayleigh had been teaching his little brother in a matter of days. It kinda helped that Rayleigh was quite the slave driver. Maybe too much of a slave driver.

  
On top of Rayleigh's training they had to constantly be on guard against the animals of the island. Rayleigh had been completely serious about the animals being stronger than them. They also attacked for little to no reason at all, and at the most randomest of times. Ace swore, up and down, that the animals were getting together and coordinating their attacks.

  
That was fine with him. Let them come and attack. He was gonna-

  
"Look out, Ace!" A rubbery hand stretched across the clearing and grabbed him by the left forearm. The grip was unbelievably strong as he was pulled away from the closing jaws of a humongous lion and towards his little brother.

  
"Luffy!" A fist smacked the rubbery boy on the back of his brother's head and now there was nothing to steer him. He was flying towards a tree and there was no slowing down. He was gonna smack against it!

  
Ace blinked and found himself standing there, as if nothing had happened. "Look out, Ace!" Ace ducked under the hand that shot out to grab him and rolled away from where the lion chomped into suddenly empty air. He instinctively shot a solid orange fireball at the lion's muzzle and it yowled and blindly dashed off into the tree line.

  
With the current threat gone, Ace stood up and looked over to Rayleigh, who merely grinned at him as if he knew that would happen. There was a snap as Luffy's arm retracted back into place, and the Dark King smacked a fist against the rubbery pirate's head.

  
"Hey! That hurts!!" Luffy rubbed at the sore spot with a pout while Ace just shook his head and smiled. "Ne, Ace! Did you do it?"

  
Do... Oh! "I was gonna smack into a tree, Luffy!" Honestly, his brother reacted too quickly sometimes.

  
"No. I knew that Ace-nii-chan would duck! Shi shi shi!" Luffy laughed and gave Ace a sheepish smile, one that made it so he couldn't even get angry at his brother.

  
"Well, now that both of you have awakened  _Kenbun-shoku Haki_  I have a course set up for the both of you. The destination is to the mountain over there-" Rayleigh didn't even get to point at which mountain. Luffy was already heading for the tree line, warming up via rotating his arms in turn, followed by some stretches. "Luffy?"

  
Ace grinned and followed after Luffy, also warming up for what laid ahead of them. If he knew his brother still, he didn't want to know what was in store for him. That sat quite well with Ace, being that this method always seemed to work out for the both of them. "Just show us where to start, old man."

  
Luffy grinned at him and crouched down into his Gear Second stance. His skin gained a pink sheen to it as steam rose from it while he sped up his blood throughout his body. "Race ya there, Ace-nii-chan."

  
Oh, this was gonna be good. "You're gonna eat my dust, Lu." Ace crouched into a sprint start position and smirked over at his brother. "Three."

  
"Two." Luffy also crouched into a sprint start position and stuck his tongue out at him.

  
"One!" They took off in unison, Ace matching his brother's speed for the first ten feet before Luffy looked as if he vanished. The race was on, and he had no intention of losing to his little brother, as he had a few techniques of his own. Bursting into flames, which were orange with the barest traces of red at the core, he picked up speed and followed Luffy's trail.

 

* * *

 

  
_Baltigo: The Second Month_

  
Training with Robin was highly challenging. She was vicious in her attacks, and very quick to change how she was attacking. Still, Sabo wasn't going to go easy on her all the same. She was already strong from her trials, so they were working on bringing that strength out.

  
He alone couldn't do it, so Dragon often came to help, making it a three way battle. It helped Sabo a lot, especially since he was developing another form of his Zoan Fruit. According to Robin, the doctor of the Straw Hats had developed something that allowed him increased transformations. Since he didn't have access to this something, he had to train to develop any other transformations.

  
"You aren't focusing on the sparring match, Blue Gentleman-san." An arm bloomed from his shoulder and loosely wrapped around his neck. No pressure was applied, but the message was clear. He was dead.

  
" _Gomen nasai_ , Nico-san. I was thinking about the medicine you were talking about. The Rumble Ball?" The arm disappeared and Sabo smiled sheepishly. "I was thinking that maybe it's possible to train for more transformations without using it."

  
Robin smiled at him, and a shiver went down his spine from how dangerous she looked in that moment. Sabo could only assume that training was going to become much harder.

 

* * *

 

  
_Momoiro: The Third Month_

  
Sanji was in absolute hell. Pure, unadultered hell that was completely his own doing. He had been running, day and night, from the maniacs that were wanting to put him in a dress. It couldn't be helped. Not after what Ivankov had done to him.

  
Sanji wanted to sob, and cursed the hormones of the blasted female body that the Okama Queen had... Had... Oh it was terrible! Nothing would be the same ever again!

 

* * *

 

  
_Rusukaina: The Fourth Month_

  
Red flames tinged with blue shot out from Ace's hands, which Luffy expertly dodged. The resulting cries and yowls from the animals trying to sneak attack them was well worth it. Luffy twisted his body around and  _Gomu Gomu no Muchi'd_  a singed looking lion, his leg black from  _Busō-shoku Haki_. It looked like the very same one that had tried eating Ace three months ago.

  
"Looks like we have dinner for tonight," Rayleigh observed from where he had been watching the two of them train. They were excelling as  _Kenbun-shoku Haki_. Ace had unlocked  _Busō-shoku Haki_  last month, while Luffy had unlocked it a few days ago. The gap didn't seem to matter at all, because Luffy was just as proficient as Ace with the Armament Haki, and it looked as if he would surpass his older brother.

  
"Ne, Ace-nii-chan! I don't think this will be enough for us to eat tonight!" Rayleigh blinked at Luffy's statement before trying to figure out how many pounds of meat a nearly twenty-foot tall lion could provide for the three of them. He had seen both of the boys eat over the last three months, and surely they wouldn't eat the entire lion?

  
"I think one more will do, Lu," Ace called out as he somersaulted over a charging rhinoceros. It was almost as big as the lion, maybe three-fourths of the size, and Ace slew it with a jet of  _Busō-shoku_  enhanced red-blue flames through its thick neck. The flames acted very much like a sword and they immediately cauterized the decapitation wound perfectly so there wasn't a mess of blood.

  
"Shouldn't we get one more for Rayleigh-Ossan?" Luffy cracked his knuckles and started eying a tiger that was slinking away.

  
Rayleigh held up his hands and nervously looked from the tiger to Ace and Luffy. "I'll go catch a fish or two!!" Honestly! Granted that Luffy was rubber, but how could both of them eat that much meat?! It was utterly mind boggling!

  
"Ah! Okay." Luffy grinned and dragged the lion over to where Ace was cutting up the rhinoceros with  _Busō-shoku Haki_  enhanced flames.

  
Just watching that made Rayleigh a little nervous and he quickly left to go catch those two fish while he pondered on what kind of monsters he would eventually unleash upon the New World.

 

* * *

 

  
_Baltigo: The Fifth Month_

  
He had mastered his fourth transformation, which favored defense. His scales would raise out and sharpen to hurt an attacker, plus if he used  _Busō-shoku Haki_  he would have better defense against Logia Fruit users. Despite that, Robin still found ways to harm him. Had she been learning  _Haki_  as well?

  
Sabo snapped his jaws and shifted back to his human form. He grabbed up his solid metal Bo staff and dashed in quickly. He swept the weapon at Robin's feet, only for her to turn into actual flower petals. His eyes widened and he leapt back to examine the  _Hana Hana no Mi_  user a bit more closely.

  
Her extra training with Dragon seemed to be paying off.

 

* * *

 

  
_Momoiro: The Sixth Month_

  
Sanji, though resigned to the fact that she may never obtain her original gender again, was firmly against wearing that damnable dress they were chasing her with. She had won a handful of the Attack Cuisine recipes, all while nimbly dodging Ivankov and the supposed enhanced female hormones he had in his syringe like nails to make her even more girlier if at all possible. She was suffering enough as was, and did not need more damnable female hormones going through her already female body.

  
Night was starting to set in across the island, providing her with a different set of worries than for what she had during daylight. She couldn't use  _Kenbun-shoku Haki_ , so she didn't know where someone would be coming from in the dark. Her legs were aching, but she fought through the pain to run on.

 

* * *

 

  
_Rusukaina: The Seventh Month_

  
They sleep peacefully, Luffy possessively wrapped around Ace as much as possible while Ace is holding on to him protectively. Their breathing is one hundred percent in sync, and though they appear innocent enough like this, they are quite the force to be reckoned with when awake.

  
Rayleigh isn't fooled by the innocence the scene conveys. A stray animal, one of the many that has come down looking for an easy meal, is fooled by the sleeping brothers.

  
Ace is the first to react, a wall of blue flames springing up around the two in a tight circle. Luffy simply follows it up with a  _Gomu Gomu no Pistol_ , his arm a solid black from  _Busō-shoku Haki_.

  
The animal is sent flying, screaming into the night, and the brothers sleep on. Rayleigh sighs and goes to sleep himself, the blue flames flickering before receding back to Ace without ever harming Luffy in the slightest.

 

* * *

 

  
_Baltigo: The Eighth Month_

  
Robin can duplicate herself perfectly, and hold the duplicate for extended periods of time now. He hadn't noticed it before, but her previous duplicates hadn't been perfect. Now, he couldn't tell them apart from her.

  
She is just as merciless as ever. He pushes onwards in their training though, determined to be stronger than ever. For Ace and Luffy. For himself.

  
She pushes herself, surpassing him more easily than he can comprehend. Her determination, he can understand. He also understands why she pushes herself. For Luffy. For her  _Nakama_. They have given her something worth fighting for, and he can't help but feel like he is missing out.

 

* * *

 

  
_Momoiro: The Ninth Month_

  
She has become more vicious in her attacks over the months, never holding back even though they still chase her. Sanji has also been able to sense the  _Okama_  following her off and on for short periods of time. She vaguely remembers fighting the  _Mantra_  users of Skypiea and wonders if this is what it was.

  
Of course, thinking of a time when she had been male enrages her towards her current predicament. Surprisingly enough it doesn't hamper her fighting abilities, and her collection of Attack Cuisine recipes grows to thirty-seven. There is a sliver of hope that after she completes this task of gathering the recipes, Ivankov may change her back. She can only hope.

 

* * *

 

  
_Rusukaina: The Tenth Month_

  
For a while now, Luffy has been stealing kisses from him, especially when they were training. Ace had always assumed that Luffy would be rather simplistic in his approach, but it was very apparent that the rubbery brat was quite devious. He was also wondering where Luffy had learned to kiss like that.

  
First and foremost, Luffy favored using Gear Second when he was stealing kisses, to the point that Rayleigh knew what was going on. The old man would often chuckle to himself and shake his head. Secondly, they were kisses that involved quite a bit of tongue and Ace often felt that the younger pirate was attempting to devour him. He knew this wasn't so, and lately started to reciprocate in kind. Afterwards, the amount of cheer emanating from the young Captain was palatable and it seemed that the animals in the area were affected by his extremely happy mood.

  
Come to find out, Luffy was unconsciously releasing his  _Haō-shoku Haki_  in a way that left even Rayleigh baffled. It shouldn't have been possible, but this was Luffy, who lived to break boundaries and laws. The old man deemed it time to start working on  _Haō-shoku Haki_. That was fine with Ace, and Luffy.

  
For now though...

  
Ace grinned and successfully tackled Luffy to the ground, a feat that was difficult to do considering both could constantly use  _Kenbun-shoku Haki_. Then again, he figured that Luffy let himself get tackled, probably for this specific reason.

  
"You caught me." He was all smiles, full of warmth and tenderness. Ace leaned down and touched his nose to Luffy's, a pleased grin on his own face. "So I did," he murmured, then teasingly brushed his lips against the younger pirate's.

  
" _Ace~..._ " Luffy pouted when Ace started to pull away, thinking that the all too brief and chaste kiss was all that was in store for him. He couldn't even really call it a kiss.

  
"Yes?" He hadn't pulled away like Luffy thought he would, only to the point that their noses were touching again. When Luffy only continued to pout he shifted and brought his mouth close to his ear. "I love you, Lu." There was a sharp intake of breath from Luffy and Ace swore his face was going to be hurting later on from how much he was grinning, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was here and now.

  
He pressed kisses along Luffy's jaw and slowed down as he reached his mouth. Ace took his time, a teasing lick to the corner of his lips, followed by a nibble dead center that drew a gasp from his brother, which he took full advantage of. A hand came up from Luffy's side to his cheek as he delved his tongue into the eighteen year old's mouth and explored.

 

* * *

 

  
_Baltigo: The Eleventh Month_

  
It's one of the rare days they're relaxing. Dragon is staring in the direction he knows that Luffy is in, a small smile on his usually stoic face. Sabo doesn't ask how the man knows where his son is at, but he does go to Robin.

  
He finds her in the library, sipping on coffee and reading up on the knowledge that the Revolutionary Army has gathered. He sits down at her table once she nods, her eyes never leaving the pages in front of her.

  
"You have a question for me, Blue Gentleman-san." It was a statement, and there is a knowing smile on her lips. Pale blue eyes turn up to watch him for a moment as he searches for the words to the question he wants to ask.

  
"Would you tell me about one of the adventures you had with Luffy?" It isn't the question he wanted to ask, and she knows it. He doesn't know how she knows it isn't the question, and as unsettling as that is he isn't worried.

  
"How about I tell you about our trip to the Sky Island of Skypiea?" Robin smiles serenely and sets her papers aside. Sabo's jaws are slack and he slowly nods, the idea that there is an island in the sky is not easy to grasp. "Well, our trip started after I joined the crew after everything in Alabasta. We were following our log pose when a two hundred year old ship fell out of the sky..."

 

* * *

 

  
_Momoiro: The Twelth Month_

  
She has fifty-one of the Attack Cuisine recipes. She also just ran out of island to run on. She can feel the  _Okama_  drawing closer, but she is trapped. What if all of her hard-earned recipes are taken from her? Sanji couldn't let that happen!

  
With a glance over her shoulder, the dress wielding  _Newkama Kenpo_  users closing in on her, she takes a leap of faith and jumps into the air. She doesn't fall. Instead, she keeps jumping, and running, the sky her new terrain. Sanji almost grins at the looks on their faces.


	13. Two Years: Year Two

_Weatheria: The Thirteenth Month_

  
She swept the Clima-Tact over her head and squealed in happiness as small clouds formed above her. A light, warm drizzle immediately started up and Nami danced in joy. She had perfected the Shower Tempo! Another sweep of her upgraded Clima-Tact, now named the Sorcery Clima-Tact, dispelled the drizzle and the clouds.

  
Prying the information for the Weather Balls out of Haredas had been relatively easy. Developing her newest and most powerful Clima-Tact yet, without Usopp's help, had been challenging. It was a sleek Bō Staff now, with no protrusions from the dials of Skypiea, and she had done it on her own.

 

* * *

 

  
_Kuraigana: The Fourteenth Month_

  
Zoro cursed loudly as he almost took a hit on his left side from Mihawk. The man had blinded him in his left eye, some weeks prior, and he was still adjusting to not being able to see from that side. His new inability to not be able to see from his left eye didn't phase the man in the slightest. It made him train the younger swordsman even harder.

  
"Focus, fool, or I'll blind you completely." Mihawk attacked with Yoru, the  _Kokutō_  very nearly grazing his cheek. His left cheek.

  
Zoro bared his teeth at the World's Greatest Swordsman and gripped Shūsui, one of his own  _Kokutō_ , with his left hand. He was so close to mastering his newest sword, which had quite a temper and was much heavier than Yubashiri had been. He sheathed Shūsui and half-crouched, his gaze warily fixed on his mentor. " _Ittōryū Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson_!!!" He dashed forward as he called out the move, and quickly unsheathed Shūsui with every bit of power he could put into the strike.

  
Mihawk blocked the blow, which would have outright killed lesser men, and merely looked bored. When Zoro leapt away, looking frustrated, he turned and started walking back up to the castle. "Meditate."

 

* * *

 

  
_Boin Archipelago: The Fifteenth Month_

  
" _Hissatsu Midori Boshi: Impact Wolf_!" Usopp fired the Pop Green seed at an over-sized Stag Beetle that guarded the edge of the island and a large wolf's head grew from the bulb shaped like said animal's nose. It charged the beetle in the form of a powerful shockwave and stunned the beetle. Another appeared to take its place, to which Heracles shot Pop Green seeds at it to fend it off.

  
Usopp darted around the stunned Stag Beetle and fired another Pop Green seed at a third, this one unleashing large Venus Flytrap that wrapped its vines around the Stag Beetle. It was aptly named Devil, and it proceeded to eat the Beetle.

 

* * *

 

  
_Torino Kingdom: The Sixteenth Month_

  
Chopper sighed and wiped at his brow, his look of extreme concentration never ceasing. This medicinal mixture was temperamental, and as it was his first time making it, it was going to take some time to get it right. He had little else to be working on, his transformations now perfected without the use of the Rumble Ball. All he needed that for was his very last transformation.

 

* * *

 

  
_Karakuri: The Seventeenth Month_

  
He tinkered with his newest adjustment to himself, upgrades to his arms that were much larger. Franky still had normal sized hands, within these new and larger arms, and they were fully functional. He simply needed to fine tune the arm upgrades.

  
He had upgraded everything else on himself, and had even made it so he could adjust his hair by pushing down on his nose and holding it for three seconds. Franky had even sewn his skin back on, front and back.

  
With a final twist of the last few bolts, he examined his handiwork and flexed the arm. Everything was going SUPER!

 

* * *

 

  
_Somewhere along the Grand Line: The Eighteenth Month_

  
Tone Dial sales were through the roof. His managers were ecstatic about the tour, which would end at Sabaody Archipelago in another six months. Brook hadn't said anything about going back to piracy, but he would tell them when they reached Sabaody.

  
He had developed his Devil Fruit ability to the extent that he could imbue his  _shikomizue_  with the chill of the underworld. Brook was also able to separate his spirit from his skeletal body and travel without it. His managers didn't know that, and he intended to keep it that way.

 

* * *

 

  
_Rusukaina: The Nineteenth Month_

  
Rayleigh had finished teaching them all he could, and so left Ace and Luffy, at their request, to continue training by themselves on the island. The number of animals that were stronger than them had decreased dramatically. From what the brothers could tell, there was only fifty or so animals that were stronger than them.

  
As a challenge to themselves, they had decided to split up for a month. Far enough that they would be on their own, but still within each other's  _Kenbun-shoku Haki_ range. Ace was better at  _Kenbun-shoku Haki_  than Luffy, so his range was much larger, and from what he could deduce it covered the entire island and then some. Luffy's, on the other hand, covered two-thirds of the island.

  
The younger pirate didn't seem to be worried about their decision to split up for a month. In fact, he seemed to be quite eager to prove himself. Ace was worried though, and a glance at the x-shaped scar on Luffy's chest was a firm reminder of what had happened at Marineford. He had to vow to himself to not constantly monitor his  _otouto_... His  _saiai_.

  
"Luffy." The teen glanced at him from across the clearing, a puzzled look on his face. "Ah, I..." Ace was suddenly at a loss for words, but Luffy understands what it is he is trying to say. In the span of an eye blink his brother was standing in front of him, a sunny smile on his face.

  
Luffy didn't say anything. Not this time, and it is clear that there was no need for words. He kissed him instead, chaste and slow to start with, arms wrapped around his neck.

  
Ace reciprocated the kiss, his own hands at Luffy's waist as he intensified the lip lock with a light nip.  **He**  drew a soft gasp from  _him_ , a slightly surprised look in  _his_  eyes then teasing mirth as  _he_  swipes  _his_  tongues across  **his**  lips. Ace has tightened his grasp on the teen's waist and pulled him closer so that their bodies were flush against one another. He delved his tongue into Luffy's mouth, the teen tasting sweet and spicy despite the copious amounts of meat he ate.

  
After what seemed like forever, and a lot of tongue wrestling, they pulled apart. Both panted softly, and Ace could feel the want and need for more. He also saw that Luffy felt the same, and at that moment he looked extremely... No. They couldn't. Not right now at least. Training was their priority and they weren't properly prepared for sex. Sure, it was frustrating as hell, but they could wait.

  
" _Ace~_..." Luffy pouted, to which Ace smiled faintly and touched his forehead to Luffy's. The teen wasn't able to put into words what he was feeling, nor did he knew what it was that he was exactly wanting. He wanted more, and it definitely involved Ace.

  
"We need to finish our training, Lu," Ace whispered, inwardly cursing his brother's naïveté and lack of information. He would have to sit Luffy down one day to explain it to him, and hope that he would understand. "After we leave Rusukaina I'll..." Shit. How was he supposed to word it so that Luffy would comprehend it? "I'll show you what comes after kissing, okay?" Hopefully that would work.

  
"Okay, Ace."

 

* * *

 

  
_Baltigo: The Twentieth Month_

  
A gigantic hand slammed the ground where he had just been standing, and a second went to grab him as he leapt into the air. Sabo quickly turned into his slender and agile dragon form to fly from out of the enclosing hand. Robin's  _Mil Fleur: Gigantesco Mano_  dispersed in a shower of fading petals while a pair of much smaller arms sprouted from his neck. He quickly activated his Defense Form, the spike-like scales making the arms vanish as he dropped to the ground.

  
Robin wasn't making things any easier, and she wasn't even able to use Haki. She had also gotten physically stronger, though he could outmatch her in terms of brute strength. Her tactical and strategic cunning was superior, however, and not even Dragon seemed to be able to match it.

 

* * *

 

  
_Momoiro: The Twenty-First Month_

  
Sanji kicked away another  _Okama_  with her flaming left leg. Her  _Diable Jambe_  intensified and she kicked a third  _Okama_  down. She had collected all of the Attack Cuisine recipes, and was now just surviving as she made her way back to where Ivankov was staying on the island. It would take a while, with all of the  _Okama_  still attempting to put her in a dress. She could use her  _Sky Walk_ , but then it wouldn't really be much of a challenge.

  
She had every intention of demanding that the  _Okama_  Queen return her back to her original gender, since she did get all of the Attack Cuisine recipes. It hadn't been part of the initial agreement, but she had no intention of returning to her  _Nakama_  like this. This was too humiliating for them to ever find out about.

 

* * *

 

  
_Rusukaina: The Twenty-Second Month_

  
Two months. Three if they counted this one. They would be leaving for Sabaody in two months, to rejoin the rest of the Straw Hats.

  
Time seemed to have flown, and when Ace thought about it, two years wasn't really anything. It seemed like it, day by day, but in hindsight it wasn't much time. The world might have moved on, but he knew that the One Piece would still be waiting for them, where his father by blood had left it.

  
"What'cha thinking 'bout, Ace?" Luffy sat down next to him and leaned against his side. His eyes were threatening to close, the young Captain exhausted from the day's training.

  
"Hm... I wonder..." Ace pulled Luffy onto his lap and wrapped his arms around his brother's waist. "We only have two months, three if we count this one, before we leave." He let his chin rest on Luffy's shoulder, his own eyes closing halfway.

  
"Mm... When we go to the New World we can visit with Ace's  _Nakama_." Luffy felt Ace stiffen slightly at those words and smiled faintly. "I miss my  _Nakama_ , so Ace must really miss his."

  
"Lu..." Ace felt a weak smile form and he closed his eyes as he pressed the side of his face into Luffy's hair. "I do miss them, but we need to make you Pirate King first. Who knows, we might even meet them on the way." He did want to see them again, but they had time for that whenever. Luffy's dream came first.

  
"Ace..."

  
"I'll be fine, Luffy. They'll be fine too."

 

* * *

 

  
_Baltigo: The Twenty-Third Month_

  
Robin lifted a crate of the books that Dragon had given her and started to carry it to the ship that everyone was working on preparing for her and Sabo's departure. Behind her were several more crates of books, following her on the feet that she had bloomed beneath them. If anyone thought it odd, they never said anything, and were all too happy to move aside for her and her small convoy.

  
Sabo, on the other hand, was sporting quite a lump on his head from his attempt at helping Robin with her books. All he had tried to do was offer to help carry the crates, to which the archaeologist politely declined. When he had insisted... Well, the lump made it quite obvious.

 

* * *

 

  
_Momoiro: The Twenty-Fourth Month_

  
He. Was. Back. Oh, he was a man again! Sanji had never been happier in his life! Ivankov had changed him back, and was giving him a boat!

  
No more long hair! No more breasts (as nice as his had been)! And no more... So not going there.

  
Sanji didn't want to think about the monthly cycle a woman went through, his experience with that absolutely horrifying. And the pain. It was a different kind of pain that caused him to shudder upon remembering.

  
He was free of all that though!

  
Behind him, Ivankov watched with a scowl. Inazuma whispered something to the  _Okama_  Queen, but Sanji didn't care. Nor did he notice the maniacal spark that appeared in Ivankov's eye.


	14. Two Years Later

It was freezing on _Rusukaina_ , yet there was no snow. This baffled the _Kuja_ who had come to pick up Luffy and Ace, and they couldn't help but look around as they made their way to the clearing Rayleigh had given them directions to. It was supposed to be the one safe place on the island, where nothing would attack them.

 

To their amazement they found Luffy and Ace camped out at the clearing, a massive hunk of meat roasting over flames controlled by the elder of the two, with a gigantic lion, alligator, gorilla and a much smaller tiger. The animals were eating, or attempting to do so. It looked strange, seeing a gorilla and alligator fighting over meat.

 

"Luffy!!" Marguerite called out as they entered the clearing.

 

"Yeah, I'm coming." The nineteen year old Pirate Captain tossed aside the gleaming white bone that had been covered in meat moments ago and got up. He went over to where the pair of hats, as well as Ace's other belongings, rested and picked both of them up. "Time flies, ne Ace?"

 

"It doesn't feel like it's been two years," Ace responded softly as he made a few final adjustments to the flames then got up to retrieve his belongings. He attached his knife to his belt then shouldered his bag when Luffy unexpectedly stuck his orange hat onto his head.

 

"Shishishi... Ace looks like himself again." Luffy grinned and all but pranced away, his own straw hat back on his own head.

 

"Ah, um... The ship..." Marguerite looked from Ace to Luffy, an unsure expression on her face. "The ship is ready, Luffy-san. We can leave at any time." She cringed a little as the enormous animals got up from where they were squabbling over their portions of food and looked over to her, growls and roars coming from them.

 

Luffy had opened his mouth to say thank you, but his expression quickly darkened and he shot a glare to the animals. "Hey!!" The lion, who had instigated the situation, looked a little taken aback. "Take a good look. Those are my friends."

 

Marguerite was in quite a daze as the animals began to cower, while an amused Hancock, Sandersonia and Marigold walked into the clearing. Elder Nyon didn't look as impressed by Luffy's display.

 

"Fufu, amazing," Hancock commented as her small group came to a stop at the clearing's edge.

 

"You've really become the boss of this island," Sandersonia observed, her gaze lingering on Luffy before it went to Ace. It was hard to determine which of the two were stronger, and the slight age gap didn't make that much of a difference. Sure, Ace might have been stronger than Luffy at one point, but now...

 

"Yeah, but because I made friends with these guys, I didn't get to eat their meat." Luffy glanced over to the still cowering animals, a pout on his lips. "Too bad, cause it looked really good." He was obviously disappointed about not being able to eat these particular animals, though some of the ladies seemed mystified as to why he and Ace would want to befriend the animals of the island.

 

"Don't worry, Luffy, I've loaded up the ship with your favorite foods." Hancock was blushing as she looked away from Luffy, even though he wasn't really paying attention to her. "...I think a thoughtful woman like me would make a wonderful wife."

 

Ace opened his mouth to say something, but Luffy beat him to the punch with a monotoned, "I'm not marrying you." Even his expression was flat. "Thanks for the food!" Ace opted to sigh instead, and shook his head at his little brother's more enthusiastic thanks. Luffy would never change when it came to food. He was also thankful that his brother wasn't as oblivious as he had thought.

 

Hancock sighed and swooned, while Elder Nyon continued to watch her with a disapproving look from her side. "I love you even when you're sharp with me."

 

Sandersonia glanced over to her sister and gave a small shake of her head before her gaze returned to Luffy. "Rayleigh left six months ago, so I'm sure he'll be waiting for you two on Sabaody."

 

"He taught us all of the basics in a year and a half," Ace stated as he edged closer to his brother, a move that was noticed by everyone save for Luffy and Hancock. Luffy's attention had gone back to the four animals with them and he was pouting again. "We can't take them with us, Lu. Let's say our farewells to the island and to them, 'kay?"

 

"All right." The young Pirate Captain suddenly grinned and stretched his arms skywards, reminding Ace of the happy-go-lucky seven year old that had come to live with him, Dadan and her mountain bandits all those years ago. "Let's go!"

 

* * *

 

 

_The Grand Line: Sabaody Archipelago_

 

"Pirates who have survived the first half of the Grand Line have begun gathering here again in droves. The arrival of Kid and Drake and the rest two years ago was exciting. Now those guys are making waves in the New World. There aren't as many as before, but there are a few rookies worth over a hundred million here and there. But what surprises me is that the Straw Hat Pirates have shown up here after two years of silence, just when we'd all finally started to believe the rumor that they were dead!!"

 

"And they're recruiting!! They plan to expand their crew and go wild in the New World!! The thought gives me chills!! Maybe I'll see about joining up myself."

 

_Grove 33: Sabaody Park's Concert Arena, Sabaodome_

 

Outside of the Concert Arena people were crowded around the ticket vendor, desperate to get a ticket to go in and see the wildly popular Soul King. One woman, whom was closest to the vendor, was earnestly imploring about acquiring a ticket to the show. "Isn't there anything you can do!?"

 

The vendor, whom was growing increasingly cross at her persistence, stared her down. "Of course there's no more tickets left. That's what sold out means!" He had already tried explaining it to her, but she just didn't seem to be listening. The gathered crowd, however, seemed to get the message. "It's Soul King Brook's World Tour!! He's a huge star!! And this island is his final concert!! The Arena's already packed!!"

 

Meanwhile, inside of the Arena, Brook was in his dressing room, relaxing and strumming on a custom guitar while his manager and assistants watched on from the other side of the room. "Manager!! Today is going to be my best performance ever!!!" He called out as he played an upbeat and lively tune, close to the one of his all time favorite song Bink's Sake.

 

"Well, I sure hope that's true! The TD sales are in the millions! You truly are the king of the soul music world!! Just listen to the crowd cheering!" His manager was smiling, the expression akin to that of a shark's.

 

"The truth is... I have something important to tell you before the concert begins," Brook confessed, pausing the melody that he had joyfully been playing on the guitar.

 

"What is it?"

 

* * *

 

 

The crowd in the Arena chanted his name, and had he a heart it would have been fluttering. He stepped out onto the stage as the drummer started playing and held the microphone up to his mouth. "Helloooooo!!!" The stage lit up with spouts of fire at each end and the crowd went wild. "Nothing but bones!!!" Out in the crowd people started fainting and stretchers were called to take them away.

 

"Let's make today the best anniversary ever!!!"

 

* * *

 

 

_Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 44: The Beach_

 

Sanji scowled as he stepped off of the pram, his gaze scouring the length of the beach. It finally settled upon a form that he had thought would be forever lost to his sight and his tongue lolled out. "A woman!" Hearts formed in his eyes and floated around him as tears freely flowed down his cheeks. "Night after night I've dreamed of this..!!!" The woman caught in his line of sight glanced his way, her friends also looking his way out of curiosity. "Actual real ladies exist on this island!!"

 

Their looks of curiosity quickly became expressions of disgust, and as he started running towards them exclaiming "VIVA SABAODY!!! I NEED LADIES!" they ran off as fast they were able to. The women kept going, out of fear for their virtue, despite him pausing when the Kamabakka Okama called out to him.

 

"Well, I guess is goodbye, Sanji-kyun. I'm sad to see you go, but I'm sure we'll meet again someday!!"

 

Sanji whirled around, a ferocious look on his face while he presented his middle finger to the entire group of Okama. "I sure hope not!! Thanks for bringing me here!! Say hi to Iva for me. See ya!!"

 

"He's so wild..." One of the Okama commented, hands on her hips. "Hey, did you know? Boys always tease the girls they like!"

 

"I'll never forget him!!" Another Okama swooned, watching as Sanji took off again, this time other women on his mind.

 

"Wait for me, Nami-saaaan, Robin-chaaaan! Your man Sanji has just returned from Hell!!"

 

* * *

_In a certain bar.._.

 

She sat at the bar, the bartender pouring her drink as they chatted. She was picking up information for when they finally set sail, whenever her dear Captain and the rest of her precious _Nakama_ should arrive.

 

"Did you know the Marines moved their headquarters?" The bartender handed over the drink as a look of surprise and confusion swept over the woman's face.

 

"It's right near here at Marineford, isn't it?" She took a small sip of her beverage while the bartender gave a shake of his head.

 

"They switched it with their G1 branch, which was right on the other side of the Red Line. This was the decision of the new Fleet Admiral who replaced Sengoku!! This way Headquarters is in the same ocean as the Yonkou." That made enough sense, but it would also prove troublesome for them when they did finally make it to the New World. "Thanks to that, the threat of having Headquarters right next to us has lessened...and the lawless areas on this island have increased."

 

"So that's why..." She murmured to herself and took another sip of her drink. "I thought it seemed rougher than it did two years ago..."

 

"Huh!? Did I mishear you!!?" She paused as a man spoke loud enough to draw everyone's attention to a table where a group of ruffians sat. She turned slightly to glance at them from the corner of her eye, a slight frown on her face. "A 55 Million bounty...!?"

 

The speaker was a very large man who was wearing a red vest, blue shorts, a dark grin and a very badly cared for straw hat. He fired a gun at the man with the 55 Million bounty, wounding him badly. "Go back and read the flier... I specified at least 70 Million." The grin twisted his features and made him look even crueler. "I won't deal with any Captain lower than that... I can't believe you had the gall to set foot in here," he sneered now and waved the gun. "Go home, you piece of shit!! I am the son of Dragon the Revolutionary."

 

"Hehe." The orange haired, weasel-faced looking woman snickered at the large man's side while the injured pirate Captain writhed in pain on the floor.

 

"We have no use people who'll just slow us down. We are the chosen pirates!!!" Another large, masked man spoke up, his tone snide. "We're on a whole other level!! We can't let just anyone join our crew!!"

 

"Get out of here!!"

 

"That Straw Hat Luffy...sure is merciless!" One of the bar patrons murmured nervously to his buddy.

 

"What do you expect? They've accomplished a lot." His buddy responded, and they both ducked their heads down as the injured pirate was thrown out of the bar.

 

"Hey, Franky!! How many does that make now?" _Luffy_ looked over to the blue-haired man standing at his side smoking a cigarette. _Franky_ pulled out a ledger and thumbed through the pages. "Looks like... About 100... We had three whole crews join us and ten of them have bounties."

 

"And two of them are infamous Rookies, known for killing Marines!! Wet-haired Caribou and Blood-spattered Coribou. Those two brothers are both Captains, one worth 210 million and the other 190 million." _Luffy_ grinned maniacally and laughed. "Dohaha!! They'll come in handy...!!" He paused and looked around the bar, his gaze finally resting on the bartender. "But we need more lackeys... Hey, old man, bring me some ale!!" Next his gaze went to the woman sitting at the bar, his expression becoming lascivious. "...And you over there!! Don't just sit there moping alone, come over here!!" he ordered, more than loud enough for the entire bar to hear him. "Hehe... She's a real prize." That last bit was stated in a low tone.

 

She had stopped watching him long before that, intending to pay _Luffy_ no mind. "No thanks," she said in a flat tone. "I'm waiting for someone." She was quite sure the man, who seemed to be even more of an idiot than her precious Captain, wasn't going to give up. It didn't really concern her, since she knew she could take him with what she had learned.

 

The shocked and suddenly silent atmosphere in the bar was no surprise to her, but every other patron there seemed to enter a state of panic. Someone mentioned that she had refused him, like it was a big deal, and even the bartender was fretting. "Hey, hey!! Do as he says!! That's Straw Hat Luffy. He's that crazy pirate that charged into the Battle two years ago!! Haven't you heard of him!?"

 

She very nearly snorted at that, but her mask of calm remained in place, her long bangs covering her eyes while she rested rested her cheek in the palm of her hand, her elbow propped up on the bar top. She ignored the patrons of the bar, and it was obvious that she didn't care about this pirate _Luffy_.

 

"Hahaha, waiting for someone? Whoever it is, he's probably a weakling who'll cry and apologize once he hears Captain Luffy's name!! Hurry up and get over here!!" The large masked man bellowed.

 

She opened her eyes and glanced over their way, her expression set. "I'm only going to say this one more time. I have no interest in you, so I'm not going to drink with you!" Her voice was cold, and she briefly wondered if any of her _Nakama_ would show up. It wasn't that she was worried about these buffoons, which she could handle on her own. The atmosphere was seriously getting on her nerves. "Do you understand, Straw Hat... Who was it again?"

 

Everyone in the bar seemed to freak out even more, but she kept her calm even as the weasel-faced orange-haired woman came up to her side and put a pistol into her face. "All right, I'll give you two choices!! Do you want to take Captain _Luffy_ up on his offer? Or do you want to die?" The woman sneered and cocked the hammer back on the pistol. "By the way, I've also got a bounty on my head. I'm the Cat Burglar Nami and you'd better not underestimate me!!"

 

"Hissatsu Midori Boshi!!" A voice called out, and the woman pointing the gun at her face looked up towards the door in shock as something flew at her. "Devil!!!" A giant Venus Fly Trap appeared behind the woman and snapped her up, causing her to cry out in alarm. As the bar went into panic mode yet again, a slim man walked over to her and sat down on the stool next to her. "So, miss," he started off, a grin on his face. "Will you drink with me?" He lifted the brim of his hat to show her his face.

 

"Oh!" A look of recognition flashed across her face and she jumped up to hug him. "Squeee!!! Usopp! It's been ages!!" Of course, without even realizing it, she ended up squishing his face into her chest. "Look at you!! You've gotten kinda manly!!"

 

"Oof! Y-you've grown some yourself..." Usopp blushed and pried himself from her grasp, hoping she wouldn't notice where his face had ended up. There was still quite a ruckus going on in the bar, but they ended up completely ignoring it.

 

"That's yours?" She asked, turning to point at the plant that was still chewing on her impersonator.

 

Usopp grinned again and gave a nod. "Yep!! That's my new weapon, Pop Green!!" His chest puffed out in pride, like when he usually boasted, but this time it was truly something to brag about. "I haven't just been sitting around staring at the ocean the past two years!!" He leaned against the bar top and motioned to himself. "Sorry, but you and Chopper are on your own now. I've graduated from the weakling trio!!" It felt so good to say that, and he looked a little more prideful too. "Nothing scares me now!! That's what sort of warrior I've become!!!"

 

The large masked pirate suddenly burst through the foliage of Usopp's Devil, looking quite pissed and ready to spill blood. "Hey, brat!! Did you do this!?"

 

Usopp's jaw dropped in disbelief as he took in the man's appearance. "What!!? Sogeking!!? How??"

 

"Just ignore him, Usopp." She grabbed onto his arm and turned to leave the bar, pulling Usopp along with her. "Let's find another bar! I've got a favor to ask!"

 

"Wait!! You bastards!! Who do you think we are!!?"

 

"Huh!!? Luffy??" Usopp was truly confused now. First it was Sogeking, who by all rights shouldn't have been there, and then it was his Captain, who looked ready to kill them. In all the ruckus of them leaving, nobody seemed to notice the black clouds forming overhead. With their backs to the bar, Usopp jumped a little at the sudden screams of pain and glanced over his shoulder in time to see the windows and the cracks in the door lit up from inside.

 

"So I learned some new techniques, but..." Nami went into a detailed explanation as they walked away from the bar, and Usopp expressed his awe of her having been on another Sky Island.

 

* * *

 

 

_Grove 13: Shakky's Rip-Off Bar_

 

"That stupid swordsman got here first!!?" He couldn't believe it. Honestly. How had the directionless brute managed to get here before him!? He had expect Nami-swan and Robin-chan, being the wonderful, smart beauties they were, to reach Sabaody first, but Zoro! That green-haired lout should have gotten lost! "Damn, sounds like we're gonna be in for some rough sailing this time," he grumbled and took a long drag on his cigarette.

 

"And Franky-chan was second. He got here ten days ago and already headed over to the ship." Shakky watched the cook with an amused smile as he went from a sour mood to a relieved one.

 

"Oh good. I'm glad Sunny's safe."

 

"Of course. There's not a scuff to be seen, and I've finished the coating," Rayleigh interjected, though Sanji's attention had already gone to a heavily bandaged Duval. "I hear he's been working hard, too."

 

"There's no shame in an honorable injury," Duval stated with his awkward wink. Even his men were bandaged, but he bore the worst of the injuries.

 

"You're surprisingly honorable. I owe you one, Duval." Sanji fought back a cringe and immediately blocked out the rest of what Duval had to say. It helped that Shakky mentioned Nami arriving third, to which he twirled around, hearts in his eyes and in the air around him. "NAMI-SAAAAAAAAN! Where is she!? Where is she now!?"

 

"She had some free time, so she went out shopping..." Shakky continued, wisely ignoring his outburst whilst he continued his foolish display. After several minutes he finally calmed down and she resumed naming his crew mates as he sat down. "Fourth was Usopp-chan. He arrived three days ago..." The cook still wasn't paying any attention and seemed to be mumbling to himself that Nami had gone shopping. "Fifth was Chopper-chan, who came yesterday, and then you. Brook arrived today for his concert." She smiled and brought her cigarette to her lips, taking a small pull on the slim stick. "In other words, the seven of you are already on this island somewhere."

 

Sanji seemed a little surprised about the news of Brook being here to perform a concert, however, they brushed it aside, as well his question on it. Rayleigh folded the newspaper he had been reading in half and glanced over towards them. "That just leaves Nico Robin and Luffy." That was if they were counting the original members of the Straw Hat Pirates. Ace was with Luffy and from what he understood, the Mera Mera no Mi user would be joining his brother in the rest of his adventures. "Just getting back to this island is quite a feat. I'm impressed that you all managed to get back here."

 

"Yeah. I'm surprised to hear you trained Luffy, though." Sanji picked up the glass of ale that Shakky had placed down for him and turned on the bar stool to look at the legendary Dark King. "He must be pretty strong by now." Despite his own treacherous luck for the past two years he had gotten stronger, so it was only natural that Luffy get stronger as well.

 

"I haven't seen him in six months myself, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much he's grown since then," Rayleigh admitted with an amused grin. The brothers had flourished under his training, faster than anyone he had ever seen before. They constantly pushed one another to get better and their teamwork was one of the best he'd seen out of their generation.

 

"I wonder how much Nami-san's grown in the past two years," Sanji suddenly mused with hearts in his eyes and blood spurting from his nose.

 

"Hey, are you okay?" Rayleigh inquired, a little worried at the abruptness of the cook's nosebleed.

 

* * *

 

 

_"This is Sabaody Archipelago._ I've spotted Nico Robin."

 

"Don't kill her. Bring her back alive."

 

She leaned against one of the buildings, out of sight and well away from the crowds in the streets. Above her, clinging to the building was a long, serpentine dragon with blue scales and a pale golden mane. She was panting to catch her breath while the dragon looked around.

 

"It seems that we lost them," the dragon stated and climbed down to the ground beside the archaeologist. He looked at the papers Robin held, one a flyer for the skeletal musician's concert and another an advertisement recruiting people into the Straw Hat crew.

 

"What on earth is going on...?" Robin seemed to be a bit baffled, the concert Brook was having one thing, while the recruitment advertisement another. That was so unlike her Captain, and from the information that had been gathered, the posters were being put out by an imposter crew.

 

* * *

_Grove 47_

 

"Hey, hey, Zoro! Sanji! Robin!" It was great to see them again after so long. "We haven't seen each other in so long. What's going on!?" They were walking ahead of him, and he was actually surprised to see two of them in particular in such close quarters with one another. "Zoro and Sanji have become such good friends over the past two years, but why aren't they talking to me at all? Huh?" That was the only thing that had him puzzled. "Are you embarrassed? You dummies!! Ahahaha!"

 

"It's following us! What is that talking tanuki anyway!?" _Zoro_ whispered harshly to _Sanji_ and gave a nervous glance in his direction.

 

"I told you, look at this!!" _Sanji_ held up a wanted poster for _Zoro_ to look at, and on it was the tanuki following them. They both glanced back at him this time, and he gave them a confused look in return. "It's the real Cotton Candy-Loving Chopper (pet), worth 50 Beri!! The crew must have abandoned him here on this island before their deaths..."

 

"You guys seem kinda different! Not that that bothers me," Chopper exclaimed as he trailed along behind his supposed _Nakama_.

 

"He's following us 'cause he thinks we're his old masters, get it!?" _Sanji_ continued as they kept ignoring the reindeer they mistook for a Tanuki. "So let's get rid of this fox and keep the real one...!!"

 

"If we've got the same pet as on the posters, people'll be more likely to believe us!!" _Zoro_ exclaimed and they put away the poster depicting Chopper.

 

"You want to keep it? What does it eat?" _Robin_ asked, her grip on the fox's leash slackening a little.

 

"Cotton candy, of course!" _Sanji_ answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

 

"I haven't got any!" Hopefully the real Chopper ate something other than cotton candy. Letting go of the fox's leash, _Robin_ kicked the animal away from her. "Shoo! Shoo, shoo! Get out of here!" She quickly turned around to face Chopper and squatted down, a scary smile on her face. "Here, Chopper." The fox got back up and bit her on the head, but she diligently ignored it as she pulled out a cucumber for Chopper. "I've got a cucumber for you."

 

Chopper looked absolutely horrified, because this was so unlike _Robin_ as he remembered her. "You're scaring me, Robin!"

 

A dozen or so feet away there came a shout, "Now!!" and two men dashed up with a sack. They slipped it over _Robin_ faster than anyone was able to comprehend and sprinted off with her.

 

"Oh!! Robin!!?" Chopper had fallen over in surprise and stared after the abductors in shock while _Sanji_ whirled around and called out for _Robin_. "Oh no!! Robin got kidnapped!! They must be kidnappers!!!"

 

* * *

_Grove 12_

 

_"This is Sabaody Archipelago. We've captured Nico Robin."_

 

Sabo glanced over to Robin, a brow arched as they listened to the transmission on the Black Den Den Mushi they had borrowed from Dragon. The rumors of the fake Straw Hat crew had been very true, but as irritating as that was, they weren't going to be doing anything about the impostors.

 

"We've also got a fox that's bitten her and won't let go."

 

"We better hurry," Robin stated softly as she led the way through the abandoned grove. It was only a matter of time before the Cipher Pol agents figured out that the Robin they had was fake.

 

"You think everyone will have made it here?" It would be nice, finally getting to meet the rest of Luffy's Nakama, but if there was one thing he feared in this situation it would be Luffy's reaction to seeing him alive. Knowing what his brothers had gone through in believing him to be dead, having thought both of them to be dead for those few agonizing weeks two years ago, he could only hope that his reunion with Luffy would go well. Sabo didn't even want to fathom how Ace would react to him being alive, wherever he was.

 

* * *

 

 

There was a loud crack, followed by a scream and shouting. People turned to look at the commotion and were unsurprised to see _Straw Hat Luffy_ , a smoking gun in hand. It was a little surprising to see him looking rather singed, but apparently the culprit was a woman, laying bleeding on the ground.

 

"You shot her!!!" A bulky man with a long nose knelt down next to the woman, who feebly clung to him in her dying moments. "What did you shoot her for...!!? What did we do to you!!?"

 

_Luffy_ sneered somewhat and glared down at them. "I apologized, didn't I? It was a mistake, sorry." There wasn't an ounce of remorse in his tone, and truthfully that made one less pair matching their description. "I'm looking for a couple like you two, a man and woman with long hair and a long nose!!" He scrutinized them a little more, a scowl set on his face. "...hmm? You're not complaining are you...?" A twisted grin replaced the scowl while the man with a long nose grimaced. "I think you might be." With that he raised the gun and fired.

 

The man slumped over wordlessly and an onlooker commented on how horrible _Straw Hat Luffy_ was for such a merciless act. Several people ran forward as _Luffy_ turned away, barking orders at his crew to keep searching, to help the man to a hospital. Nobody really noticed as a scrawny kid in a hooded cape approached, a very overstuffed backpack strapped to him. He walked past everyone, his pack unfortunately knocking _Luffy_ over.

 

The kid paused and glanced over at the man he had unknowingly knocked over. "...oh... Did I hit you? Sorry!" His tone was very apologetic and he turned to start walking again as _Luffy_ sat up. "See ya!"

 

_Luffy_ sat there, dumbfounded, for a moment as the people watching whispered about the kid's impending demise. His features twisted into a dark expression and he got up. "Stop right there!!!"

 

The kid stopped again and twisted around to look back at the pirate, his expression wary. "Huh?" He hadn't meant to knock the man over, so he had apologized. That should have been enough.

 

* * *

He looked around the deck of the Sunny, impressed by the work and care that had been put into the ship. It was a fine vessel, and he could sense the love the crew had for her, as well as her love for the crew. It was sad that the Going Merry hadn't been able to make it, not physically at least, but that little Caravel, no matter how tough, wouldn't have been able to handle the New World. Her spirit was obviously in the Thousand Sunny.

 

Ace didn't see anyone on the main deck, but he could sense someone, probably the shipwright Luffy had mentioned, below. He had left the Striker tied up to the port stern for the time being. He would figure out how they would get it to the New World later. For now, he was worried about Luffy and his propensity for getting into trouble.

 

"Ace?"

 

An unfamiliar called out to him and the Logia user turned to see a large and hulking...cyborg? As awesome as the man looked, Ace had way more sense than Luffy did, so he wasn't starry-eyed at the sight of the shipwright. "You must be Franky."

 

"So you're Luffy's bro! It's awesome to finally meet you!" The shipwright walked over and held out his hand. The palm of his super-sized hand opened up and a smaller hand extended out.

 

Now Ace was very impressed by the shipwright. He shook the metal hand and grinned. "Luffy wouldn't stop going on and on about how cool you are. You also designed the Thousand Sunny?"

 

"Hehe... The Sunny is my pride and joy." Franky beamed and went on to explain all the features of the Sunny to Ace, and he watched as his Captain's brother's face lit up, especially when he went through the docking system.

 

"So you have an empty channel? Will the Striker fit in there?" Ace was relieved that he wouldn't have to leave it behind. Sure, he was the only one who could pilot it, but it was sure to be useful. He led Franky over to the port stern and showed him the small vessel.

 

"Yeah, the Striker will fit. So I take it you'll be joining us?" At Ace's nod Franky grinned. "Super! I'll open Channel Four for you. I suppose I'll be adding another bed in the men's quarters too."


	15. Ten Pirates and a Revolutionary

Luffy stood there on the roadside, unmoving and unflinching as a pistol was all but jabbed into his cheek. His expression was one of minor irritation as the man went on and on about something while even going so far as to lean on him. He had apologized for bumping into him, so he should be on his way back to the Sunny and his Nakama. Ace was supposed to be meeting him there too, and he so wanted to introduce his older brother to Robin, Franky and especially Brook. Describing them to the Logia User did them no justice and he wasn't exactly able to convey just how awesome each of them were.

"I'm real sorry. But I'm in a hurry, so..." The reaction from everyone watching was instantaneous. They fully expected him to die now, because he refused to beg for his life like the pistol-wielding pirate wanted, not that he had caught any of the man's demands. As the pistol was aim at his head, point blank, his expression became serious, shadows cast over his face as he looked downwards. Leaning back slightly, right as the pistol was fired, he watched the bullet pass right in front of his face. He quickly righted himself and with barely a thought exerted his Haō-shoku Haki to knock out the annoyances surrounding him.

Luffy didn't spare them a single glance as he walked away from their unconscious forms, the onlookers in quite a state of shock. Their reactions to the outcome were severely delayed, and had he not been actively using Kenbun-shoku Haki he wouldn't have heard them wondering at just what he had done to get out of the situation alive.

-TbE-

He stared at the magnificent figure of his little brother's ship, his jaw a little slack. She was a thing of beauty, and there was the tell-tale sheen of Yarukiman Mangrove resin on her. The coating job was well done, and they would certainly make it to Fishman Island, barring any unfortunate encounters. Having been regaled with tales of some of the Straw Hats' adventures he expected there to be no problems whatsoever. "This is?"

"The Thousand Sunny, our home." Robin smiled wistfully at his side, her own gaze sweeping over the ship and noting the changes, however slight, that had been made. "Our beloved Nakama."

There was movement on the main deck, a hulking figure that Sabo hadn't remembered being described in Robin's tales. He made no move to attack though, trusting Robin to assess the situation and make any necessary actions. "Owwwhh! That nice beauty can only be the Super Archaeologist of our own crew!" The blue-haired man had leapt up onto the railing at the side of the Sunny, his box-like arms pressed together over his head and the split tattoo on them forming a star. He paused, however, his gaze going to Sabo. "Who's that with you, Robin?"

Robin smiled and they leapt down onto the lawn deck of the Sunny, joining the eccentric shipwright. Though he had upgraded his body dramatically, he still wore the floral shirts and a speedo. His hair was closely shaven, but no doubt he had some way of regaining his original hair style if he so chose to. "This is-"

"Sabo?" A voice called out from the hatch to the soldier dock system.

Robin observed from her peripheral that Sabo had frozen up, so she looked towards the hatch to see Ace, looking pale and shocked, climbing out. His actions seemed quite mechanical, and once he was out and the hatch closed he just stood there, staring at Sabo. A discreet glance at Sabo had her frowning faintly, because she could see fear in his eyes.

Ace seemed to snap out of his shocked state and lunged at his brother. Quick as lightening he punched Sabo in the jaw, which sent the blond reeling a little. He didn't wait for Sabo to recover from the force of his punch, a hand grasping at a lapel of the blue coat the blond wore which he tugged on to keep the man upright. Tears were freely flowing down his cheeks, evaporating before they could reach his jaw, and he had his fist raised for a second punch. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Sabo and sobbed.

Sabo silently returned the embrace after the shock wore off, his fear gone. His jaw throbbed, but he deserved it, for all the years he had remained silent, letting Ace and Luffy believe that he had been dead. Working up his courage, he let go of Ace after a long moment and pulled back, a faint, sad smile on his face. "I wanted to write and tell you that I was okay," he began in a soft voice, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe Ace's face clean. "You and Luffy were always on my mind, and had it been anyone else that had saved me I would have contacted you, but I couldn't risk anyone tracing my messages back to where I was at." Even now he was limited as to what he could even tell Luffy and Ace. Until Dragon made his move Sabo's hands were tied.

Ace allowed his brother to wipe his face clean, his gray eyes taking in Sabo's appearance. He dressed almost exactly the same as all those years ago, top hat included. Reaching up, he pulled the hat off of the blond's head and took in the scar that was on the left side of Sabo's face in full view of the light. There was no more left eyebrow, the scar going up into jagged points halfway up his forehead and it bordered around the outside and under his eye, going partially onto his cheek. "Is that from..."

Sabo frowned and lifted a gloved hand to touch the bottom edge of the scar. "The _Tenryuubito_ that was visiting Goa. It was the only thing that Ivankov-sama was unable to fully heal." He watched as Ace frowned at that bit of information, grey eyes narrowed and lips thinned in thought.

Ivankov... That name rang a bell, and after a long moment it clicked. Emporio Ivankov, the Okama that had helped Luffy survive in Impel Down, and again at Marineford. "You were with the Revolutionary Army," he whispered. His gaze went to the woman that Sabo arrived with, the only other female member of Luffy's crew. This was the infamous Nico Robin, who must have spent her time among the ranks of the Revolutionary Army for the duration of the two year training period. His gaze went back to Sabo, a faint smile on his face now. "Franky-san, this is Sabo. He's mine and Luffy's brother."

"Luffy has another brother?! SUPER!" The shipwright beamed, ecstatic to meet the blond. He didn't comment on the fact that Sabo was a part of the Revolutionary Army, nor did he care about that fact. Every single member of the crew had a bounty on their head, whether it be for piracy of going against the World Government, so it made no difference, especially with his own past, and all that had happened at Enies Lobby with the crew. "Will you be joining us?"

Sabo looked from Franky to Ace and then finally to Robin, his expression unsure. "If Luffy will have me." The younger pirate and Captain was the main deciding factor, this much everyone knew, and if Luffy did say no, as slim a chance as that was, then they would have to respect his wishes.

Robin had a secretive smile on her face while Franky grinned and went to go grab more lumber for the extra beds to be added to the men's quarters. Ace had a grin of his own and he placed the top hat back onto Sabo's head, pressing it down a little forcefully. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Sabo."

-TbE-

_Grove 47_

"Captain!"

"Captain Luffy!"

"Luffy! I've missed you guys so much!" Chopper exclaimed as he approached his _Nakama_ with _Sanji_ and _Zoro_. They looked as if they had gotten into a fight, not that he really paid any attention to that, as glad as he was to be reunited with them.

 _Sanji_ , however, noticed the state of his companions and asked, "What the heck happened?!"

"Luffy! Franky! Nami!" Chopper called out to each of them excitedly, though his tone became one of confusion as his gaze settled on one particular individual. "Sogeking?"

"It was like a cold chill shot through my whole body..." _Luffy_ stated, completely ignoring the presence of the chibi-esque reindeer. "The hell did that guy do...?!"

"You guys really have changed in these two years, huh?" Chopper continued on, failing to notice that his supposed Nakama weren't even paying attention to him. "You must have got really strong...! Hmm?"

"Oh, but you've got to hear what happened to us...!" _Zoro_ spoke over Chopper, as if he weren't even there. "The thing is, Cocoa-" he suddenly glanced down at the reindeer, as if finally remembering his presence. "-uh, I mean, Nico Robin-"

"...what did you say, Zoro?! Nico Robin's been kidnapped?!" _Luffy_ bellowed out after _Zoro_ explained that _Robin_ had suddenly been carried away by two men dressed in black suits and sunglasses.

"Uh-huh! It's terrible, Luffy! Robin's in trouble!" Chopper cried out, tears in his eyes at the thought of losing Robin again.

"Who the hell kidnapped her?!"

"That's the thing... We don't have a clue." _Zoro_ was looking down at the ground, unable to meet _Luffy's_ gaze.

"It could be those slave traders! Like before, with Keimi!" Chopper exclaimed, though his words continued to fall upon deaf ears. He watched as _Sanji_ walked over to their Captain and leaned close to whisper into his ear. "Hey, stop whispering!" Chopper cried out, waving his arms at them to get their attention.

"Well, whatever. Leave her. This is her fate," _Luffy_ stated, his tone without remorse as he first looked to _Zoro_.

"Huh?" _Zoro_ looked a little dumbfounded for a moment, then his expression grew more serious and he nodded. "Very well, Captain."

Chopper looked between the two of them, as if unable to believe what was going on, his anger surging. He didn't even hear _Luffy_ question what he was as he opened his mouth and yelled, "Oi, Luffy! Don't you get it?! Robin's been kidnapped!" His words went on ignored and _Luffy_ began talking about getting revenge on someone and going somewhere. Chopper paid none of that any attention at all, his mind so focused on rescuing Robin and the increasing anger that his Nakama weren't doing anything to save her. They were all getting ready to leave, and not in the direction that was to help Robin, when Chopper cried out, "Hold on, you guys! Luffy! Has your heart changed over these two years as well?! I'm feeling so sad, I could cry! What about Robin?! Are you all just going to let this happen?!" Large tears welled into his eyes and he turned, running away from who he thought had been his Nakama and went off to find Robin himself. "Dammit! I'm disappointed in you guys! I'm gonna save her even if I have to do it alone! Hang in there, Robin!"

-TbE-

_Grove #42_

He had searched through the groves for a bit, knowing that they would need a fresh supply of ingredients before they set sail for the journey to Fishman Island, when he had happened upon a fisherman that was getting ready to set out. "Hey, Mr. Fisherman!" He called out as he approached, hoping to see what the man had available. "How's the haul for today? I'm looking for a bargain!" He frowned when he noticed that the fisherman seemed to be in a state of panic, looking out at the water and clutching at his head with both of his hands. "What's wrong?"

"He gone! That green-haired guy!"

That statement made the chef frown, and there was an odd feeling that he was getting, because of a certain swordsman he was an unfortunate crewmate of. That was a green-haired guy he wasn't keen on seeing, especially after his two years spent on Momoiro. "Green...? Did something happen?"

"I've gone an' done something terrible," the fisherman said as he turned to face the blond, his expression one of terror. "Y'see. Just now, this guy with three swords happened to come by here, right...?" He began to explain, and the sinking feeling in the chef's stomach grew. "And he says, 'I'm bored, so I wanna do some fishing.' So I tells him, I'll be taking my boat out soon, so you just wait for me on board, yeah?"

He really didn't want to ask. Honestly, he should just turn around and walk away, but that wouldn't be polite. What were the chances of there being another green-haired swordsman wielding three swords out there in the world? "A green-haired guy with three swords and a haramaki around his waist?"

"Yeah! That's him! One-eyed to boot!" The fisherman exclaimed, seeming to perk up slightly at the accurate description of... _him_. "D'you know him?"

 _One-eyed?_ Sanji frowned and pulled a wanted poster out of his pocket. Unrolling it, and effectively revealing the wanted poster of Roronoa Zoro, he held it up for the fisherman to see. "Is this the guy?"

"Ahh! Yep, this is the guy all right!" Now the fisherman seemed to be panicked again, as if he hadn't realized that Zoro had a bounty on his head. "He a friend of yours?!"

"...well," Sanji began, the sinking feeling now one of outright despair. "I suppose. I know him, kind of..." That would suffice, right? He could leave and not think about Zoro, and how infuriating the man was. His thoughts of getting away were short-lived, however, the fisherman still going on about Zoro.

"But listen! I swear I told him to wait on my fishing boat! I told him, I did!" This was getting a little redundant, and Sanji had to keep himself from biting down on the filter of his cigarette out of frustration. "But you know what I found when I came over here?! He was fast asleep on the gigantic pirate ship right next to it!" And leave it to the brainless brute to get on the wrong ship. "I was panicked, I tell you, but I yelled at him, 'Not that boat!', I did, but he just keeps on snoring! And by then it was too late! The pirate ship was all coated up, and it sank right down into the ocean! It must have headed over for Fishman Island!"

Sanji stood there, looking out at the water, a mixed expression of shock and anger on his face. Leave it to Zoro to do something that stupid. He didn't even want to imagine Luffy's reaction if and when he told him that the ship's resident swordsman was on his way to Fishman Island already. "That idiot." There wasn't anything they could do, especially since they were still waiting for Luffy to make it back to the ship. He hadn't gone yet himself, seeing as they were in dire need of food. "I thought it was a bad sign that he'd actually made it to the meeting point before anyone else, and now look what happens!"

"It was a pirate ship, you hear?! He could've been killed by now!"

That was almost a laughable thing to say, as Sanji knew (rather, he had an idea) that it was rather hard to kill that green-haired bastard. "No, no, that's fine. Don't worry yourself, this isn't your fault at all!" It was Zoro's, for being too brainless to figure out which was a fishing vessel and which was a pirate ship. "That brute won't get himself killed, so you can rest easy. Hell, at least now we know where to find him." Well, if the ship could even make it that far with Zoro on it. Knowing him, once the swordsman woke up there was likely to be some sort of havoc. It was pointless, though, to think about it. "So... Have you got any fish?" He asked as he turned back to look at the fisherman.

"Hey! Look out in the ocean! There's something coming up!"

"Hm?" Sanji looked past the fisherman, who also turned, to see that a group of people had begun gathering on one of the many islands that made up Sabaody. They were all watching the water not too far off from where the chef and fisherman were, and some were even pointing at the spot that was bubbling. It was quickly increasing in size and then suddenly a ship, a Galleon, burst forth from the frothing bubbles. Rather, it was split clean in two, and there seemed to be some sort of commotion on board. Looking closely, Sanji scowled and shoved his hands into his pockets. "What, you're back already? _Not that I care_..."

Sitting up on the main mast, drenched in sea water and sheathing Shuusui, Zoro scowled. He ignored the cries of the Galleon's crew, his gaze going to where Sanji and the Fisherman stood. "I got on the wrong boat!"


	16. The Island of Restarting

_Sabaody Archipelago: Grove 35_

"Robin!" He raced through the streets of Sabaody, hoping to find traces of his Nakama. "Robin! Where the heck have they taken you off to?!" He couldn't find her scent, no matter where he searched, and it was truly worrisome. What if… No. He couldn't think like that. He would find her! "Dammit! Dammit!" How could they… "What's wrong with every one?! Luffy, and Zoro, and Nami and Sanji and even Franky!" It was so unlike them. "You all used to care so much about your friends! But now Robin gets kidnapped, and all you can say is ' _Leave her_ '?!" That wasn't what friends did. "You're all terrible!" He would rescue Robin by himself! "What have I worked so hard for these two long years?! For who?!"

"Heyyy! Choppeeeer!"

Chopper halted at that voice and looked around, confused as to who could have called him. "Ah…?" In the distance he spotted the person who had called out and relief filled him as he walked towards him. "Usopp!"

"Well, look at you! You sure have grown!" Usopp exclaimed as he hopped down off of an expanded bubble bicycle holding a lot of purchases, most likely for the ship. "I bet that back of yours would make a ride and a half!" He observed as he looked over Chopper's original reindeer form. He had gotten much bigger! "How've you been?"

"You're right! He's even fluffier than before!" Nami exclaimed, suddenly appearing at his side and pressing her face into the fur of Chopper's muzzle.

"Hm?" Now Chopper was confused.

"It's been a while, Chopper!" Nami exclaimed as she took a step back to get a better look at their youngest Nakama. She moved from his side to stand in front of him, her hands still lingering in his super soft fur.

"Huh?! Nami?" Chopper stared down Nami, utter confusion in his tone and his expression. Hadn't he just run away from Nami not even a few moments ago? Nami, of course, gave him a questioning look and an equally confused 'Yes?' The reindeer shook his head and stamped a hoof as he said, "No, forget that! I'm happy to see you guys again, but this isn't the time!" They had to hurry. "Something terrible has happened to Robin!"

Nami and Usopp both exchanged a look, and the Navigator frowned before she returned her full attention to the distressed Doctor. "Why don't you explain what happened to me." She motioned for Usopp to get back onto the bicycle then patted a spot in the back for Chopper.

The reindeer gladly transformed into his usual chibi-esque form and got onto the float with Nami's help, quickly explaining everything that had happened to her while Usopp began pedaling. After a long moment of silence, she finally let the truth slip out and Chopper loudly repeated, "They're all fakes?!" It took a moment for that to process, and when it did finally click he went slack-jawed. "So that's why there were two Namis! Oh dear…"

"Look," Nami began, glancing down at Chopper. "Robin has been on the run from the World Government for twenty years, remember? Do you really think anyone could just stuff her in a bag and run off?" This was Robin they were talking about. Unless they used Kairouseki on her, there was no way they could effectively capture her.

"Of course!" When he actually thought about it, it did make sense. "I thought something didn't seem right… She didn't smell the same as she used to." And taking a discreet sniff, Chopper found that Nami smelled almost exactly the same, with the addition of a few new ones which smelled kind of like a mixture of different types of weather to him. This was probably due to her use of her Clima-Tact. "Hmph! Now I'm starting to feel really pissed off! What's up with those guys pretending to be us like that?!" It was maddening. "It's just disgusting! Those filthy copy cats! Why, it's almost as though we've _gone and become proper celebrities, dammit!_ "

Nami looked a bit cross and smacked the brim of Chopper's hat. "What are you so happy about?!" After a moment of watching the tiny Doctor happily wriggle about she sighed. "I suppose it was inevitable, though, now that the whole world knows Luffy's name."

"Eheh… I've gotta come up with an autograph!" Chopper exclaimed suddenly, no longer thinking of the imposter crew.

"I've already got mine," Usopp all but sing-songed.

Nami grimaced and shook her head. "You two do realize that we're famous in a bad way, right?"

-TbE-

_Grove 40_

They ran as fast as they could, hoping to catch up to the strange creature that was the Mugiwara's pet. Once they had explained everything to their ingenious Captain, he had yelled at them for letting it to get away. They needed that thing to make their claim legit. If anyone did find out that they weren't the real Mugiwara Kaizouku, then there would be hell to pay. Of course, finding the damn pet was going to be quite a task, as Sabaody was quite large.

Up ahead of them, walking in the middle of the road was a cloaked figure wearing an extremely stuffed pack. "Hey, isn't that the 'brat with a cape and a giant rucksack' the Captain was looking for?" The blond asked.

"You call that a brat?"

As they got closer the brat paused and stared at them, a grin alighting his mustached face. "You guys!"

-TbE-

_Grove 41_

Zoro stared blankly at the cook, his mind set on one thing and one thing only for the moment. "I want…" he began, his expression becoming quite serious. "…to go to the coast. I want to do some fishing…" He had been hoping to pass the time by getting some good quality fish to make some sushi with. Instead, he had gotten on the wrong boat, took a nap and upon waking slashed it in half. Now he was following the cook around, who seemed rather irate over nothing, while he went about purchasing food for the Sunny.

" **Forget it, you big dumb brute!** " Sanji yelled out, a muscle in his forehead spasm-ing while his face was a nice shade of, dare he say it, pink.

The swordsman honestly didn't know why the cook was all flushed like that, and the yelling had been a near constant thing as soon as they had met back up. " **Why?! Why do I have to listen to the likes of you, anyway?!** " He had been just fine on his own. Really.

" **What, you think I'm hanging around you 'cause I want to?! Hah! I just don't trust you enough to leave you wandering around this damn island again, you brainless marimo!** " Sanji had leaned in close, his cigarette clenched firmly between his teeth. "We're all meeting up pretty soon, so just shut up and follow me, got that?"

"Tch." Follow him. He didn't want to follow Sanji anywhere. He simply wanted to do some fishing before they left out. What was so wrong with that? "I'm Number One. I don't need this kind of crap from you, Number Seven." Zoro could see the rage building in Sanji from that statement and turned away just as the cook's pink flushed state darkened to a rage-induced red. It was so easy to mess with him.

" **What, are you turning the order we arrived into some sort of ranking?! Don't get all high-and-mighty just because by some miracle you actually managed to get here first!** "

"Sure, whatever, Seventh." Zoro started walking away and Sanji angrily stomped after him, obviously not finished yelling at him. Whatever training the cook had gone through had really gotten his boxers all twisted up, so getting him to unwind by directing anger towards him would help in the long run. Plus, it helped keep his own skills sharp.

" **Oh, that does it! You're going down! It's time you felt the force of this leg I've been training to perfection in Hell for the past two years!** "

Zoro turned to face the cook, noting he had lifted a leg up and was prepared to kick him. Grinning savagely, he grasped Shuusui's hilt. "Bring it on! I'll slice you in two!"

-TbE-

_Grove 46_

_Sanji_ and _Zoro_ walked ahead of him, leading him towards a large crowd of people gathered before a stage with some more people up on that. They were talking to each other, soft enough that he couldn't hear them, which they had been doing the entire way here and it was starting to get on his nerves. Still, he was excited to see everyone, and he was supposed to meet up with Ace at the Sunny. Was the Sunny nearby? "I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!" Maybe the Sunny was docked elsewhere. "Still, you guys sure have changed these past two years! Do you not talk anymore?"

"It looks like this mustachioed freak has some kind of connection to the real Straw Hats… Who the hell is he?" The imposter Sanji whispered to his crewmate standing in for Zoro.

"I dunno, but our best chance of not giving anything away is to keep our mouths shut." The imposter Zoro whispered back, for fear of losing whoever this person was. He fit the boss' description, so losing him when they weren't able to find the original pet of the Straw Hats wasn't an option.

"I don't remember you two getting on so well, either...but it's been two years, I guess! Your faces have changed too! Are you guys in disguise too?" Luffy looked at them both curiously, but they still continued to ignore him.

"We're almost there. Once we give him to the Captain, that'll be that." The imposter Zoro concluded.

As they drew closer to stage the imposter Sanji waved to a large man up on the platform. "Captain!"

"Call me Big Boss, ya numbskulls!" The man snapped as he turned to look at them. A frown twisted up his face, making it quite unsightly, which it already was to begin with.

"We didn't manage to find the original pet, but is this the guy you were looking for?"

Luffy looked up at the guy on the stage, a slightly clueless expression forming on his face while the portly man scrutinized his form.

-TbE-

_Grove 33_

"I see... So the Marines. Very well." Brook calmly looked out across the stadium, his gaze resting on the Marines standing near the entrance. "But I cannot leave right away. My fans are calling for an encore." Indeed, the chanting of 'Encore' was very audible, and so he would give them an encore worth remembering. Music was on his side, as were his adoring fans. "They're very persistent, you understand. I must return to the stage."

The Marines readied their rifles and aimed them towards the stages, while the one in charge fired a shot into the air. "This concert is over! Stop the music!" A silence fell over the crowd and everyone turned their attention to the Marines. "Acting Captain of the Rumbar Pirates, known as _Humming_ Brook! Bounty thirty-three million Berri! We have reason to believe that you and this Pirate are one and the same!" The Marine in charge held up a Wanted Poster of Brook from his years in the Rumbar Pirates. "We have information to suggest that you are currently an associate of the Pirate _Straw Hat_ Luffy! _Soul King_ Brook! No… Pirate Brook! We are placing you under arrest!"

The members of the crowd looked positively shocked, many of the women covering their mouths, and looked from the Marines to Brook. Some of them began crying out that it wasn't possible, and someone even shouted out that Luffy was supposed to be dead.

"It's all over Brook!" A voice called out, drawing Brook's attention to stage left.

"Mr. Manager. I thought this might be your doing," Brook stated calmly, despite the Marines aiming their guns at him a fair distance away.

"When you told me that you wanted to quit the business… It was a real shock. Just when your popularity had really taken off and we were all set to make a killing!" Behind the head manager were his assistants with guns, most likely given to them by the Marines they had sold him out to. "You betrayed us, Soul King. Our business is doomed. So ain't it just fair that you go down with us?"

"Drop the guitar and put your hands above your head!" The Marine Captain shouted over the slight din of the crowd.

Brook ignored them and turned to the people who had come with him to Sabaody for this final performance. "My backing band... My chorus! My dancers!" He turned to each of them in turn, their expressions a bit startled as he addressed them. "Would you join me… in one last performance? Worry not! For my music has become powerful!" He exclaimed, and they all slowly nodded.

"Are you crazy?! It's all over for you, Brook!" His head manager shouted as he aimed a pistol at him.

"I thank you for all you have done for me over these two years! And I thank you for bringing me here, to this island!" Brook went on, ignoring his managers and the guns that they were now aiming at him. It was no different to the Marines aiming their guns at him, and he wouldn't let them stop him from performing for one final time. "This is an _Isle of Regret_ for us, home to painful memories of defeat…but it is also an _Isle of New Beginnings_! And it is my duty to my crew to make our adventure an enjoyable one!" He turned back to the crowd, the lights shining down on him brightly as he grinned. " _Straw Hat_ Luffy… Dead, you say? Utterly preposterous. Tell the world from me! **The Pirate** _ **Straw Hat**_ **Luffy is alive!** "

His statement, his declaration that Luffy was alive, stirred the crowd and the reports that were in the midst of it began calling to tell the news. "That man will one day be King of the Seas!" Brook continued on, pushing his sunglasses up onto his forehead. "How could his embarkment on this new journey possibly be a quiet affair?! Oh, baby~!" The crowd was no longer panicked, and they only needed a final push. _A message to my Nakama…_ " **Listen, my friends! To this final Soul Melody! Yeah!** " The crowd went into a frenzy and when the Marines tried to get them to stop, calling out the concert was over, they silenced the Marines and held them back. "You see? Music is my ally! **One, two, three, four!** _ **New World**_ **!** "

-TbE-

_Grove 17: Anchorage of the Thousand Sunny_

Franky made his way back to the main deck of the Sunny, leaving Ace and Sabo to put their belongings in the Men's Quarters. And to talk. It looked like they had a bit more talking to do from what he had witnessed. Stepping out into the sunlight, he blinked when he saw two familiar faces then broke out into a grin and posed. "Chopper! Usopp!"

"Awesome!" Chopper cried out with stars in his eyes as he caught sight of Franky.

"I know, right!?" Usopp exclaimed next to him, much in the same state as the tiny Doctor at the sight of their Shipwright.

"Check out this incredible body!" Franky continued to pose for the Doctor and the Sniper, grinning as they praised his upgrades. The three of them carried on, to the point that they were pretty much oblivious to Ace and Sabo re-emerging from the men's quarters and even Nami calling out to Robin.

The brothers went over to the railing where Robin stood leaning against it, their gazes going up to Nami who had been waving to the archaeologist only to falter at the sight of one familiar and one unfamiliar person. She squinted, vaguely recalling the orange hat and the red bead necklace. The blue waistcoat and top hat fitted with goggles were foreign, but they suited the blond that wore them, she supposed. She would need a closer look. Gathering up a good portion of her purchases, she boarded the Sunny only to have the bags whisked out of her grasp by the blond man and… "Oh my god! Ace! You're okay!"

This outburst immediately stopped the antics of Chopper and Usopp, Franky grinning as the two turned their attention to Ace, as well as Sabo. They rushed over, making their own exclamations, which had the Mera Mera no Mi user flushing a bit under the attention. He glanced over to Sabo, as if looking for help from the blond, but Sabo merely smiled and shook his head.

"Oh! Who is this?" Chopper looked from Ace to Sabo, more following the gaze of the dark-haired male, and sniffed. He smelt a little dangerous, but there were lingering traces of Robin's near floral scent on him, as well as Ace's fiery scent, and if those two trusted him then he must be safe.

"That was precisely what I was wondering," Nami mused, giving Sabo a rather puzzled look.

"Ah, well… I'm…" It was Sabo's turn to flush a little, and it looked like he didn't know what to say. He rubbed at the back of his neck and shifted on the spot, looking at the somewhat curious gazes of Nami, Usopp and Chopper. "I'm Luffy and Ace's brother."

"What?!" Usopp and Chopper cried in unison, while Nami merely looked a bit thoughtful.

"We're not related by blood!" Sabo stated quickly, to which Ace nodded. "But we're still brothers just the same," he added, his tone a little softer as he smiled fondly. "I haven't seen either of them in a very long time, because of something that had happened when we were kids."

"Would it have anything to do with the fact that neither Luffy, nor Ace when we met him at Alabasta, never mentioned you?" Nami asked, though in truth none of them ever really pried into Luffy's past. They had been so shocked to hear that Luffy had a brother, even though it was later revealed that they weren't related by blood thanks to the announcement Sengoku had made at the attempted execution of Ace.

"Well, they did think I was dead for all of that time," Sabo said in an even softer voice. "In fact, Luffy doesn't even know I'm here or that I'm even alive." At this news, both Chopper and Usopp broke out in a dramatic display of tears and wails, while Nami had something akin to understanding on her face.

"Luffy's on his way back to the ship right now. He said that he had wanted to walk through Sabaody." Ace informed them, at which everyone's expressions lit up and the dramatic duo immediately stopped their tears.

"And we were just on our way to tell you that." A voice called out. "Well, that and that the situation has become a bit complicated."

"Rayleigh-san! Shakky!" Nami called out as the group turned their attention to the newcomers.

-TbE-

"The Marines?" Nami asked, a look of confusion on her face. Sabo and Robin both looked interested at the mention of the Marines, because they had been aware of the World Government being involved here somewhat, thanks to one of their Cipher Pol agents carting off the imposter posing as the Hana Hana no Mi user.

"Yes, they've mistaken the fake Monkey-chan's crew for the real thing…" Shakky informed them, taking a drag from her cigarette. "And they are mounting a serious operation." She smiled in an amused manner, her gaze taking in pirates before her. "I've been tapping their communications, so there's no doubt about it."

Robin and Sabo shared a glance, for though they too had been tapping into the communications of the World Government, they had gotten signals from the Cipher Pol agents and not the Marines. While it wouldn't necessarily spell trouble for the crew, the Marines would be something of a nuisance should they figure out that they were poised on ambushing a crew of fakes.

"I've informed Brook-chan of the situation as well, through the Den-Den Mushi in the stadium. He should be joining us shortly," Shakky added, which made the original crew members rather excited. Ace and Sabo, who had heard of Brook from Luffy and Robin respectively, weren't familiar with him and so were looking forward to meeting him. They knew a bit about him, that he was a skeleton, resurrected by the Yomi Yomi no Mi, and that he was the Musician of the crew. Ace hadn't gotten much more than that out of Luffy, but Sabo knew that the skeleton was a capable fighter as well.

"Oh…? So he's abandoning his life as a star… That skeleton sure has guts." Franky commented, Chopper carefully balanced on one of his broad mechanized shoulders.

"Nami-chan, I believe you are the Navigator?" Rayleigh's gaze briefly flicked to Sabo, whose own gaze went to the orange-haired woman's form. "It seems like we have someone else also familiar with navigating."

Nami turned and looked to Sabo, a look of surprise on her face. She didn't know anything about Sabo, aside from the fact that he was Ace and Luffy's brother, but Rayleigh apparently knew about him.

"I already know how to steer a coated ship, so I can show Nami-san how to do so." Being that he had worked with the Revolutionary Army and had been Dragon's right-hand man, he had of course been to the New World as it was called.

"That takes care of that then. Everyone should be on their way here. Sanji-kun and Zoro-kun are together. I gave Sanji-kun a Baby Den-Den Mushi when he stopped by, so Luffy is the only one that we haven't made contact with." Shakky explained, pulling out a small folded up piece of paper. "Monkey-chan is sure to be following this, so I'll give it to you."

Ace came forward and took the Vivre Card, which belonged to Rayleigh, and put it in the pocket of his shorts. "Knowing Lu, things don't ever go down quietly once he's involved. So which grove do you suggest we set sail from?"

Rayleigh grinned. "Grove 42."


	17. Romance Dawn for the New World

_Sabaody Archipelago: Grove 33_

"Yohohohohohoho! Thank you for this, your timing was exquisite!" Brook commented with a hearty laugh as he held on to his top hat, so that it nor the crown on it would come off due to the speed at which the Flying Fish was currently soaring through the air. Guiding the Fish was one of Duval's men, and behind them were two more members of the Rosy Life Riders as they now called themselves.

"We're here on Shakky-nee-san's orders," the Rosy Life Rider stated with a grin. "Your Nakama are waiting for you in Grove 42."

"My chest is about to burst from nostalgia and anticipation!" Brook grinned and then cracked the inevitable skull joke, "…not that I have a chest to burst in the first place! Yohohohoho!"

-TbE-

_Grove 41_

Sanji held the Baby Den-Den Mushi in his palm, Zoro standing nearby and looking around. He did his best to ignore the swordsman, whom (for some strange reason) he seemed to be rather hyperaware of. It didn't help that the muscle-brained brute looked at him every few minutes with that near pouty-looking frown of his. "That was the Grove 42 beach, right?"

"Yeah. We'll see you guys there." Came Franky's voice from the Baby Den-Den Mushi. There was a short pause and then a sigh. "Luffy's bro is on his way to meet up with you guys, so wait for him, will ya?"

"Huh? Ace?" Sanji blinked and wondered when Ace had come to Sabaody. He was also glad that Luffy's brother had made it out of the War of the Best alive. Maybe he was here to see them off? "Okay, we'll wait for him." The line went dead and he pocketed the Baby Den-Den Mushi.

"What's up?" Zoro asked, moving to stand closer to the chef. He hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, instead focusing on what he had been sensing for quite a while. Luffy was nearby, and there was a mass of much weaker pirates where their Captain was.

"Weren't you listening?!" Sanji snapped as he turned to face Zoro. "Ehhm. Let's see. _Marines… Coming… Ace… Coming… We… Ship… Run…_ You get it?"

Zoro's face contorted into a look of anger and his hand went to the hilt of Shuusui. "What do you take me for, a baby?! Speak in full sentences!"

Sanji grinned almost maliciously. "I figured that was the best way to get through to a guy with muscles for brains."

Zoro glowered at Sanji and stepped away from the chef, his hand tightening around Shuusui's hilt. "Right. You're getting slice up later," he grumbled and turned away. "What's all the ruckus over on that island, anyway?"

Sanji smirked to himself, pleased with how easy it had been to get under Zoro's skin. "Good question… _That way… Noisy…_ "

"Luffy's that way," a voice stated from behind them.

Sanji and Zoro both turned around, both slightly tensed at first then relaxing at the familiar sight of Ace. He hadn't changed much since they had last seen him in Alabasta. There was something in the way that he carried himself that made him seem different, if only by a little bit.

"Shall we go see what my brother has gotten himself into?" Ace asked with a grin.

-TbE-

_Grove 46_

" **Take him out!** "

" **Big Boss!** "

"Looks like we've found one of the culprits already!" The large man standing a few feet away began.

Luffy turned to look at him, his gaze questioning at first as the man continued to address the crowd of assembled pirates. He turned back to _Sanji_ and _Zoro_ , a frown in place. "Zoro, Sanji! Do you know this guy?" The two of them stared at him a bit dumbly, so he pressed on. "Thing is, I ran into him earlier…"

"That's as far as you go, pirate scum!" A new voice cried out, drawing everyone's attention to the outer edge of the gathering. "Straw Hat Luffy, and all you minions! I suggest you come quietly!" They had cannons with them around the perimeter they had created, and their rifles were all aimed inwards towards the pirates. "We have sealed all exits from Grove 46! There is nowhere left for any of you to run!"

Luffy blinked, his attention now on the Marines that had surrounded them, and frowned. He had disguised himself perfectly, but here they were. "How did the Marines know I was here?" he questioned aloud, his gaze shifting to _Zoro_ and _Sanji_.

"Huh?" _Sanji_ glanced over to him, finally. He seemed irritated. "What are you going on about?!"

"Captain! Th… They have got us completely surrounded!" _Zoro_ said in a tone that was rather uncharacteristic of him.

All hell seemed to break loose within the span of a couple of minutes as one of the pirates killed a Marine they had captive. The Marines all fired into the crowd and both sides charged into a clash. The pirates were calling something out that had Luffy frowning yet again.

"Why're they randomly calling me their boss…?" Luffy questioned, confused by the situation he suddenly found himself in.

"Like I said, what are you even talking about?!" _Sanji_ snapped at him, but Luffy wasn't listening anymore.

The large guy that he had bumped into earlier started saying something, which was also tuned out. Instead, his attention went to the two Pacifista that appeared in the midst of the pirates. Those that were able to immediately scattered, trying to get away from the World Government's machines. Quite a few got blasted in the process. _"Pirate Straw Hat Luffy identified. Bibip."_ Ah, that wasn't any good. He had really thought that his disguise would make it harder to find him. Apparently not.

One of the two Pacifista, he wasn't sure which, fired into the crowd again and took out a good number of the pirates that were still attempting to flee. All of them had either no bounty, or bounties that were low, at least compared to his own. From the murmurs he was picking up from some of the fleeing pirates, they were shocked that their captains or comrades were being taken out so easily. They obviously hadn't dealt with the World Government's military force before.

A cry went out through the pirates lucky enough to escape from the blast. They wanted him to take care of the Pacifista. The large pirate that had been up on the stage was nowhere to be seen, though he could sense that the man was out in the crowd and had been blocked off by another pair of Pacifista and someone strong. Well, compared to the pirates gathered here the person was strong, but Luffy could take him. Lost in thought, he failed to notice the ensuing commotion until the conscious pirates began shouting out one word. Fake.

"Huh?" Luffy blinked and looked at the large man, who had been knocked out by a rather familiar looking person wielding a huge double bit axe. The young pirate blinked and focused his attention on to what the axe wielder was saying. "He was pretending to be me?" He gave another blink and looked towards the retreating backs of the people he had thought were his Nakama. "That Zoro and Sanji too? Wow… I thought they seemed different, but they sure do look similar."

"The deceivers may be fools, but its over for you lot who were deceived as well! Every one of you is under arrest!" The axe wielder barked out, looking over the pirates with a critical eye. "…and what's more, by some crazy coincidence, it looks like the real Straw Hat is on this island as well! The PX-5 detected him as soon as he entered the Archipelago!" Many of the pirates looked baffled at this declaration, for they thought the real Straw Hat to be dead as soon as the fake was revealed. " **Take him out, PX-5!** " The Pacifista in question turned and locked on to someone towards the back of the crowd.

Luffy, however, knew what was coming and crouched down as the beam began to light up in the machine's mouth. Once the beam was fired he pushed off as hard as possible and somersaulted backwards to land up on the raised stone platform, his disguise now discarded, while the stage blew up. He scowled down at the Pacifista, his hand tightly clutching at the bulging bag of food that Hancock had given to him. Everyone turned to stare at him, most in disbelief. "Man, that was close." Nowhere near, actually, but that was beside the point. " **What was that for?!** All of my precious food is in this bag, you know!"

All of the pirates still able to freely move about seemed shocked. Unbelievably shocked. "IT'S THE FACE FROM THE WANTED POSTER!"

The imposter Straw Hat pirates all frothed at the mouth in their shock. "That guy… H-he was the real Straw Hat Luffy!"

"Brace yourselves, men! This is the man we came here for!" Sentoumaru called out, garnering a resounding 'Yes sir!' from the gathered Marines.

Luffy scowled and stood up, pointing down at Sentoumaru and the Marines preparing to charge at him. "Don't tell me you're gonna get in my way again! Ace-nii-chan told me to not cause any trouble 'cause it would get in the way of our departure!"

There was a murmur from the pirates at the mention of Ace, the whole world now knowing of his connection to the Mera Mera no Mi user, while Sentoumaru gave a disdainful scoff. "Departure! You're not going anywhere, Straw Hat!" He hefted his axe up and pointed one of the bit edges toward Luffy. "Kill him, PX-5! Then we can go after the rest of his crew and Fire Fist."

Luffy's gaze sharpened as it remained on Sentoumaru, and the look that crossed his face was dead serious. "You won't touch my Nakama or my nii-chan," he whispered in a low, lethal tone. Without even a thought he entered into Second Gear and vanished, his pack left behind on the stone platform.

Sentoumaru scowled but didn't show any outward signs of nervousness, despite not being able to sense where Luffy was. "Find him and kill him, PX-5! Let's show the Marines what we are capable of!"

The Pacifista looked around, trying to lock on to where its prey was, but it was all for naught. Luffy appeared behind the machine and it suddenly blew up. The explosion did nothing to faze the young pirate captain as he stood up and walked over to Sentoumaru.

The now full-fledged Marine was unable to move, and it wasn't from any lack of effort on his part. He was doing his best to try and move, but every single part of him refused to budge. Fear trickled through him as Luffy closed in on him, cracking his knuckles ominously. Blinding pain was the next thing to assault him, from all over his body, as unseen blows rained down on him and sent him flying back a good dozen feet to land in an unceremonious heap.

Luffy continued to walk toward Sentoumaru with the intention of beating him within an inch of his life when arms suddenly wrapped around his waist from behind. He subconsciously sent out a pulse of Haō-shoku Haki, only for it to clash against a familiar pulse of the same Haki from… "Ace." His relaxed into his brother's arms and closed his eyes so that he still wasn't glaring murder at Sentoumaru.

"He isn't worth it, Lu." The arms tightened around him slightly before he was finally turned around to face his brother. "Look at me." Ace's tone was surprisingly gentle, but his expression upon Luffy opening his eyes was serious. "We need to get going."

"Okay." A couple more explosions, which suspiciously sounded like Pacifista blowing up, sounded from around them and Luffy's gaze was drawn towards two familiar looking men. They had each taken out two of the three remaining Pacifista and were attacking the third together. "Sanji! Zoro!" His mood returned to its usual cheerfulness and he wriggled out of Ace's grasp. With a backwards glance towards his brother, and a thankful smile, he ran over to greet his actual Nakama.

Ace gave a soft sigh and shook his head before he slowly walked over to the battered form of Sentoumaru. The fire user crouched down, his grey eyes narrowed. "The next time you threaten any of my brother's Nakama I will let him kill you," he whispered loud enough for only Sentoumaru to hear. "Now crawl back to _Akainu_ and tell him this…"

"Rayleigh!" Luffy called out from over by Sanji and Zoro, whom had started arguing about who had taken down the final Pacifista present. They stopped their bickering and looked in the direction that Luffy was waving, a cheerful grin on the captain's countenance.

"I stopped by to see how you were doing, Luffy." Rayleigh returned, smiling as he observed the younger of his two students. He paid Ace no mind, knowing exactly what the fire user was doing. He didn't blame him in any way, and from what he could tell Ace would be able to match the new Fleet Admiral.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done the last two years!" Luffy retrieved his pack, which was more of him extending his arm out and pulling the overstuffed bag towards himself than going to it, and pulled the straps on.

"There's no need for such formalities, now go and meet up with your Nakama." Rayleigh grinned and folded his arms over his chest.

"Rayleigh, I'm gonna do it…" Luffy gave a wide grin and pumped his arms up into the air. "I'M GONNA BECOME THE PIRATE KING!"


	18. Rudder Straight Down

Ace left Sentoumaru once he finished giving him the message he wanted relayed to Akainu, his grey gaze narrowed into a glare as he gave the Marine a fleeting glance. He suppressed the scowl that wanted to show as he turned to face his grinning brother. _Should I tell him about Sabo…_ His lips twitched slightly and he scrutinized the young captain before giving a slight shake of his head. _Nah._

"C'mon, Ace!" Exuberant, much like a puppy, Luffy had bounded over to him and was bouncing up and down on the spot. "I can't wait to see the others!"

Sanji and Zoro were grinning as they approached, no doubt from their Captain's antics and their own want of seeing the others.

"Then let's go." Ace gave Rayleigh a farewell wave then took off sprinting in the direction of the Sunny. Sanji and Zoro easily kept up with his pace while Luffy shot ahead. "No fair using Gear Second like that, Lu!" He called out after his brother, only to receive laughter in return. _Fine. Two can play at that._ Deciding to make their impromptu race a bit show, he burst into solid blue flames and caught up with Luffy.

"Looks like Luffy isn't the only one who's gotten stronger," Zoro mused aloud, watching the brothers race off towards the grove that Sunny was in.

"Though I can't say the same for you, muscles for brains, we've all gotten stronger," Sanji snarked through gritted teeth.

"Would you like to try me and see just how much stronger I've gotten, Love Cook?" Zoro was tempted to look towards the Chef, but being that the man was currently on his blind side he decided to just keep running. "I'd be more than happy to show you."

"I-is that a challenge, Marimo?"

Sanji was, no doubt, profusely red in his anger. Zoro smirked at the mental image he was able to come up with, though the mental image probably paled in comparison to the real deal. Damn Mihawk for partially blinding him. "Oi. Don't forget all that stuff you purchased for the Sunny." They were coming up on the rail that Sanji had tied his purchases to. Food items necessary for their ventures.

"I wasn't going to forget, Zoro." Sanji scowled, because he almost had forgotten. Glaring at the swordsman, he gave a silent and grudging thanks, because he wouldn't voice it out loud. Only seconds later did he realize that he had used Zoro's name instead of one of his usual insults.

Zoro nearly faltered at the use of his name, though he did turn his head to look at the Chef. _Did he just…_ With the rather brilliant shade of pink coloring the cook's cheeks the swordsman came to the conclusion that yes, Sanji had just used his name. "I'll help you with them, Sanji." He spoke in a low tone, but it was obvious that the blond had heard him. Where all this niceness was coming from, he wasn't sure, but it was, for lack of a better word, nice.

-TbE-

Ace was the first of their small group to reach the Sunny, which was quite a surprise in and of itself as he had expected Luffy to be the one to win. His otouto's Second Gear was amazingly fast, enough that he had to put forth some type of effort to physically keep up with the younger pirate. _Why did he slow down?_ He leapt up onto the main deck of the ship and looked around.

Chopper and Usopp were on the stern upper deck, no doubt checking over their gardens and Nami's mikan trees. Nami was at the port rail, leaning over and looking down into the water, no doubt waiting to give Franky, who was in the water, the signal to remove the buoyancy bag that was keeping the Sunny afloat. Robin had taken up a seat at the table on the mid deck, sitting under the shade of the umbrella as she flipped through a book while a skeleton sat across from her playing the violin.

_He really does have a skeleton for a musician. That must be Brook._ Nakama accounted for, since Sanji and Zoro were on their way, that left one whose _voice_ Luffy wasn't acquainted with. _Sabo._ The Revolutionary was at the bow of the ship, looking towards him with worried eyes. Ace started to wave his brother over when a familiar pair of hands grabbed ahold of his sides. Within the next few seconds a body weighed down by an absurdly large pack all but slammed into him and sent him and his assailant tumbling to the deck.

"Ace-nii-chan won!" Luffy called out from on top of his back.

His face was uncomfortably smushed against the boards and trying to wriggle out from under the monster that was his youngest brother didn't seem to be an option. "Luffy, what the hell do you have in your bag?!" The bag that Boa Hancock had _lovingly_ packed, no less. That thing weighed a ton, otherwise he wouldn't have minded the tackle.

"Uh, food?" Luffy blinked owlishly and shifted to sit cross-legged on him. Thankfully he decided to shrug of the straps of the backpack and it rolled onto the deck beside them.

With the huge weight finally gone, Ace quickly twisted his body and sent Luffy to the deck boards. He didn't dodge the rebound that his youngest brother made and caught him, otherwise he'd have been the recipient of a head butt. "What was all of that for, Lu?"

"Shi shi shi!" Luffy gave a broad grin and instead of answering him he looked around. "I'm so glad to see everyone here!" Well, Franky wasn't currently on board, but he was there, so it kind of counted. "Ne, who's that over there?"

Ace looked in Sabo's direction and saw that he had started to come over to them, only to have frozen up from Luffy's attention. "Lu… Go say hi."

Luffy blinked owlishly and looked from the figure in blue to his older brother. After a second he gave another broad grin and was up out of his embrace. He went over to blue guy only to pause halfway there when he finally got a good look at him.

Sabo, for his part, fidgeted nervously and slowly walked over to where Luffy seemed to be anchored to the spot. Once he was in front of their youngest brother he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He closed his mouth after a few seconds of floundering on his part and looked down.

After another minute dragged by Ace was ready to get up, because this wasn't the kind of reaction he had expected from Luffy, only for the young captain to finally break out into tears.

"S-s-sabo?!" Luffy launched himself at the blond revolutionary with everything he had, his arms wrapping around him tightly, as though he were afraid the man would disappear.

Sabo looked shocked, if only for a few seconds, before he awkwardly returned Luffy's vice-like embrace. "Yes, Luffy. I-it's me, Sabo."

Everyone present watched from where they were, apart from Franky who had to climb back up the side of the ship, as Luffy started bawling his eyes out. Each had a tearful smile, with Brook, Usopp, Chopper and Franky being more dramatic about the reunion, on their faces.

"I thought you were dead!" At this Luffy let go of Sabo to begin circling and prodding him. He stopped when he noticed the look of guilt on Sabo's face, as well as the scar around his left eye. "Is that from…?"

"I'm sorry, Luffy." Sabo backed away a step and hugged himself a bit out of nervousness. "I couldn't tell anyone where I was, and yes this is from that Tenryuubito." He touched the bottom edge of his scar, a frown now on his face.

Luffy stared at him for a long moment before a grin split his face, no trace of tears left in his eyes. "It's okay! You're alive now!" He paused there, a look dawning in his eyes and he turned to Ace. "Ace! Sabo's alive!" He grabbed said Revolutionary by the wrist and dragged him over to the fire user. "Can we keep him?"

Both Sabo and Ace were stunned into silence, their expressions conveying their shock at the words that had left the young Captain's mouth. Everyone else on the Sunny merely smiled and gave a small chuckle, though some were still prone to their dramatic antics.

This was the exact scene that Sanji and Zoro came on to, and seeing that the thing that Luffy wanted to keep was more of a person they looked from their Captain to each other and then to everyone else. They had the distinct feeling that they were missing something, regardless of its importance, and merely brushed it off after a moment with a shrug from the Chef and a grunt from the swordsman.

Ace was the first to come out of his stunned silence with full blown laughter. He nearly doubled over and held his sides, because it was Luffy and they all should have expected this.

Luffy blinked and stared at Ace, confused as to why he was laughing at his question. Surely they could keep Sabo, now that he was alive and there with them. "Ne, Ace. I'm serious." Now he pouted, which only sent his oldest brother into further peals of laughter.

Sabo couldn't help but smile and feel relieved, his earlier fear of Luffy rejecting him having vanished. "I'd be happy to stay, Luffy." He placed his hand on top of the worn straw hat that his younger brother was infamous for and moved it so that the brim of the hat covered Luffy's eyes.

"Yosh! Let's go everyone!" He let go of Sabo and pumped his fist into the air, excited that they would be restarting their adventure, and with his brothers no less.

"Honestly, you guys are so silly." Nami gave a shake of her head then turned to Franky. "You can go ahead and release the buoyancy bag. The Marines are on their way here with battleships." She left the railing as the Shipwright dove under the water and walked over to the helm.

Ace calmed down at this and gave his brothers an apologetic grin.

Sanji, however, noticed Nami and immediately began swooning, hearts in his eyes while his nose unfortunately began to bleed. He didn't get too far into it when Zoro discreetly hit the back of his head with his fist. "Hey! What was that for, muscles for brains?!"

Zoro himself looked rather shocked at what he had just done but it didn't keep him from answering. "You're making a fool of yourself." With that simple response given he walked to the main mast of the Sunny and took a seat there at the base.

Sanji sputtered incoherently at this, but upon noticing a pointed glare sent his way from Nami he promptly shut up. With a sigh he dejectedly began trudging to the kitchen.

The sound of cannons firing snapped everyone back to their current situation, which was still essentially docked. Coming from the open sea was one of the Marine Battleships and their aim was off because their cannonballs hit the water just shy of the Sunny.

Luffy pushed his hat back and looked out towards the battleship while Nami back away from the railing. All other members of the crew present moved to the port side of the ship, save for Zoro who deemed it nap time, and prepared to retaliate. The battleship adjusted the aim of its cannons and fired.

"Slave Arrow!" Glowing white arrows pierced through the cannonballs, rendering them into stone and halting their flight. They dropped immediately while a galleon drawn by a pair of Yuda pulled directly into the path of the battleship.

"Hold it! Hold your fire!" Some of the Marines began to panic with the unexpected arrival of another ship. Most recognized the Jolly Roger of the galleon. "Th-that's the Kuja Pirates! What do you think you're doing?! Are you trying to obstruct our mission?!"

"Who was so thoughtless as to place a battleship in my path?!" A woman standing at the prow of the galleon spoke, her nose high in the air.

"That's the emblem of the Kuja," Robin commented from where she now stood by Nami, her pale blue gaze scrutinizing the galleon.

"The Kuja?" Nami looked confused at the mention of the female pirate crew, having never heard of them before. A glance to the rest of the crew showed a margin of interest in these Kuja helping out, but Luffy and Sabo looked uninterested. Ace, however, had an unreadable expression on his face.

"An all-female crew, led by the Shichibukai _Pirate Empress_." Robin looked away from the galleon which was now directly in front of the much larger battleship and to where Usopp and Sanji had taken up post at the railing. Both had spyglasses, but Sanji had turned into a stone statue with hearts in his eyes.

"A Shichibukai?! Who on earth is that stunning beauty?!" Usopp's jaw had dropped open and his tongue was comically sticking out as he watched the Kuja's galleon.

"Boa Hancock," Ace stated from Luffy's side. "Also known as the Snake Princess of Amazon Lily on the Island of Women. She also happens to be head over heels for Luffy."

That seemed to snap Sanji out of his self-inflicted statue stupor. "Wh-what?! How can this be?! H-h-how could she…" The blond chef seemed to deflate at this news.

"She wants to marry me." Luffy's tone was deadpanned as he moved closer to his dark-haired brother.

Sanji began sputtering incoherently again at this point, much to everyone's annoyance.

"Shut up, Love Cook," Zoro growled out as he cracked open his good eye to glare in the Chef's direction.

Sabo frowned as he looked from the Kuja galleon to Luffy and then to Ace. The Mera Mera no Mi user put an arm around Luffy, an action that very few noticed, and pulled him back towards himself.

Sanji was not one of the ones who had noticed Ace's action. "B-b-but…"

"I'm not marrying Hancock. I love Ace-nii-chan." Luffy's blunt statements were enough to shut the blond Chef up and make him look at him. Everyone looked at him, in fact, and stared. "What?"

"Congratulations," Zoro remarked gruffly as he settled against the mast once more and shut his eye. This seemed to be enough to bring everyone back to their sense and they each murmured their own congratulations to the couple, save for Sanji who still seemed to be trying to get over the fact that Hancock wanted to marry Luffy.

"Wow, I missed out on a lot," Sabo mumbled and gave a shake of his head. "Still, I'm happy for you two." He managed a weak smile and rubbed at the back of his neck, wondering how much more he had missed out on. Robin hadn't been very forthcoming about all of their adventures, and she had never mentioned Ace.

"It's a work in progress," Ace returned, a faint blush on his cheeks which was quickly hidden as he pressed his face into Luffy's neck. A light clearing of a throat brought him back out and he glanced down at the tiny Doctor of the Straw Hats. "Chopper-san?"

"Um…" Chopper fidgeted nervously, a hesitant look on his face as he glanced at the two. It wasn't so much that he was against them being together, just that he wasn't sure how to broach the subject. He was a Doctor, and it was his duty to make sure all of the crew was one hundred percent. "Luffy, Ace…"

Luffy looked down at the Doctor and blinked before a large grin spread across his face. "Yes, Chopper?"

A serious expression quickly formed on Chopper's face as he scrutinized the two of them. "I want to see both of you in the infirmary later."

Luffy opened his mouth, likely to ask why, but Ace quickly slipped a hand over it and smiled down at the tiny Doctor. "We'll be there."

"Okay." Chopper gave a happy grin and quickly scurried off to the infirmary so he could check on his supplies.

"Hey, guys! I'm opening the valve! It's gonna pump in air from our undersea airbag!" Franky finally called in over the Baby Den Den Mushi he had with him underneath the ship. Within seconds the jelly-like coating around the ship began to inflate, rising up around the Straw Hats and enclosing them in the bubble resin. After a moment passed Franky reappeared at the railing and climbed back over. "I released the buoyancy bag!"

"Bu-what? What's…" Luffy trailed off as he spotted Franky and stars immediately filled his eyes. "Sugoi!" He pulled out of Ace's grasp and rushed over to the shipwright to drool over his new appearance. He winced and clutched at his head when Nami smacked him, though half-heartedly.

"Not right now, Luffy!" Nami huffed and rubbed at her smarting hand behind her back. "We're going down, so we need to raise the sails."

"The sails?" Brook questioned.

"Yes. A coated ship can use the sea currents as a substitute for wind to propel the ship," Robin informed them.

"So we're setting sail, Nami?" Luffy asked as he moved back over to his brothers.

"Yes, Luffy!" Nami walked over to the helm and took control of it, the ship already half-submerged by now.

"Well then, men! I have tons of things that I've been wanting to say to you all this time…" Namely to Franky over how awesome his new, more robotic body was, though that would have to wait. "…but for the moment, let's leave it at this! Thanks for going along with my selfish whim these past two years!"

"Yeah, like this is the first time we've been swept along by his crazy whims…" Sanji commented.

"That's right! This is just what you're always like!" Usopp added.

Luffy grinned wide and looked to his brothers who smiled in return and moved to flank his sides. Pumping his fists into the air, he let out a loud shout of, " **SET SAIL!** " The sails were quickly unfurled and everyone, save for Chopper who was still in the infirmary, took up position on deck as they rapidly descended. Their destination, Fishman Island.


	19. Keep it in Your Heart

The Straw Hats watched in wonder as the surface of the water grew farther and farther away. It was a beautiful and mesmerizing sight, one that Ace could never get used to, and though he wanted to watch it with them there was a reaction he wanted to see even more.

Luffy had stars in his eyes, his mouth agape as he experienced his first coated dive into the depths of the ocean waters. His expression was far more precious than the sight of the disappearing surface.

"I remember my first time going to Fishman Island," Sabo stated softly as he came up to Ace's side. "It was much like Luffy's," he added with a grin.

"Mine was the same," Ace responded, tearing his gaze away from Luffy's awestruck expression to look at the former Revolutionary. "Though I wasn't as energetic," he noted, just in time as Luffy began running all over the main deck to look out through the coating at the waters and fish surrounding them.

"I heard you have a bit of a narcoleptic problem." Sabo grinned a little mischievously, his blue eyes gleaming.

"That's all Gramps' fault. All those damn _Fist of Love_ he kept giving us." Plus the old man was narcoleptic himself.

"Yeah, I'd blame that on him too, if I had narcolepsy." It couldn't be a fun thing to experience, because falling asleep at the wrong moment could lead to one's death. "I heard that the Straw Hats' Doctor is rather talented. Maybe he'll have something that'll help you."

"I've heard the same." Ace grinned and knocked the silly top hat off of Sabo's head just so he could dig his knuckles into the blond's scalp. "Don't disappear on us again, okay? We'll come after you if you do."

"I have no intention of disappearing on you guys again," Sabo whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Ever."

"Good," Ace murmured, scooping up Sabo's fallen hat from where it landed by their feet and handing it back to the blue-clad man. He noticed the reindeer doctor scurrying up to the infirmary, which reminded him of a promise made not even ten minutes ago. "Now, I promised that I would go talk to Chopper, with Luffy, so it's best to take care of that now before we reach Fishman Island." There was no telling what it'd be like once they got there, especially since it had been a territory under his Pops' protection. With Whitebeard now dead... "We should make sure that everyone is at one hundred percent."

"With the rumors I've heard, I have to agree. I'll pass the word around to the crew." Sabo put his hat back on and left to go speak to Robin first.

"Hey, Lu!" Ace called out as Luffy ran past him, making the rubbery human skid to a halt.

"Yes, Ace-nii-chan?" Luffy blinked up at his brother, wondering what he could want. There were lots of awesome things to see and he was missing out on them!

"We promised Chopper that we would go talk to him. I know this is your first time diving in a coated ship, but it's important that we make sure we're all healthy." Ace was ready to explain his worries concerning Fishman Island when Luffy gave him a bright smile.

"If Ace-nii-chan says it's important then we should do it!" Luffy understood very well what important meant, so he had no qualms on missing out on part of the dive to make sure they were all healthy. "Should everyone else get a checkup too?" That was what Doctors did.

"Sabo's already spreading the word." He started walking to the steps leading up to the mid-deck at the stern of the ship. Luffy followed after him, around to the back area of the mid-deck where the infirmary was located. Ace didn't bother knocking on the door, knowing that everyone save for the Doctor was out on the deck. "It's us, Chopper-san."

Chopper looked up from one of his medical books, a slight smile on his face. "Ace! Luffy, too! Good. Come in and have a seat." He motioned to a couple of stools that Franky had made for his patients to sit on when only a checkup was needed. The older pirates sat down as ordered and the infirmary door swung shut, another thoughtful upgrade on Franky's part.

"Before you start, Chopper…" Ace motioned for the tiny doctor to come over, and with a glance at Luffy, who was now looking around the room he had willing entered of his own accord for the first time, he leaned down as far as he was able to and lowered his voice. "I… I haven't done anything with Luffy…" His cheeks began to color slightly, and thankfully Chopper merely nodded. "We haven't had sex."

"I understand, and thank you for being honest with me." Chopper smiled, though he would still do a thorough examination of his captain and one of their newest crew members. "As your doctor, however, I will need to inform you of safe…methods. We wouldn't want anything to happen to either of you, and there have been strange things that have happened on the Grand Line." The book he had been reading was one of the latest published books and it covered all sorts of weird sicknesses and medical phenomena that occurred on the Grand Line alone.

Ace blinked at Chopper's explanation, not sure if he understood what the doctor was getting at—or perhaps he just didn't want to. "Strange things?"

"For example, either one of you could very well end up…pregnant." Chopper blushed a little and went over his desk to pick up the medical book he'd been reading. He flipped to the chapter covering the topic of men getting pregnant on the Grand Line and handed it to Ace.

"What's pregnant? Is that a food?" Luffy interrupted, picking up their no longer quiet conversation.

Ace blushed heavily, as he knew perfectly well what that meant, while Chopper sputtered for a moment.

"Pregnant is not a food, Luffy," the little doctor attempted to explain in a calm voice. "It usually occurs between a ma—a boy and a girl when they have sex. The girl will get pregnant. It can happen to men on the Grand Line."

Luffy's eyes went wide as saucers while Ace nearly choked and proceeded to bury his face in the book. "What's sex? That's not a food, is it? Am I pregnant then?"

Chopper, for the time being, ignored the inarticulate choking noises that were coming from Ace, and also resisted the urge to smack his own forehead, let alone smack his captain. "No, Luffy. Sex is… Sex is something that two people do when they are in love." He needed the posters for this one. Bringing out a board that had the anatomy of a female and the anatomy of a male posted on it, he decided to start with men's anatomy.

Ace quickly shut the book he hadn't gotten to read a single word from and set it down on a nearby table, afraid that if he heated up any further that the book might burst into flames. He was a bright red, even on his neck and a good portion of his upper torso, which Luffy did not fail to notice.

"Ace is going all red! There's something wrong with him, Chopper!" Luffy dramatically pointed at the flame fruit user, worry evident on his face.

Chopper sighed, flipped the board over and closed his eyes. "Ace is fine, Luffy." This was going to be impossible. Maybe he should just give them the contraceptives and let Ace do all of the explaining. Not that it seemed like he would be able to explain anything.

"Y-yes," Ace said, his voice cracking slightly. He coughed and then cleared his throat, though he was still blushing something furious. "I'm perfectly fine, Lu."

"How about I—" Chopper started and then stopped, giving Ace a pointed look.

"Yeah, that'll work just fine," Ace said quickly, understanding precisely what Chopper was getting at.

Luffy watched as Chopper went to a shelf full of various medicines and different bottles. He looked over each of the bottles carefully then pulled one down and brought it over to Ace. Inside of the bottle looked like pills of some sort, which made Luffy blanch. He didn't like pills.

"I have more, and can make more as needed. Both of you need to take one a day, and wait a week after you start taking them before you do anything." The bottle was filled to the brim with the pills, of which they seemed to be a hundred in there. Chopper handed it to Ace, who held the bottle a bit awkwardly.

Ace swallowed and nodded his understanding. He got up from the stool, grabbed Luffy by his wrist and practically dragged him out of the infirmary.

-TbE-

Once Chopper had seen to everyone, and Ace had managed to convince Luffy to take the necessary pill for the day even though they weren't doing anything yet, they all met up in aquarium due to a request that Franky made. When they were all seated and drinks served to them by Sanji, the cyborg cleared his throat.

"Now look," he started, glancing around at the Straw Hats, his expression serious. "There's something you guys need to know. Hachi had volunteered to guide us to Fishman Island, but he was injured for the same reasons as Duval." Everyone, save for Ace and Sabo who merely looked a little confused, nodded. "They were helping defend the Thousand Sunny for the past two years," Franky added, for their expense. "But they weren't the only ones."

They all listened as Franky explained that it was the very man who had torn apart the Straw Hat crew on that fateful day two years ago. They all flinched, as expected, while Luffy started to look angry, the memory of the event still rather fresh in their mind. That quickly calmed, however, when Franky dropped the bombshell that Bartholomew Kuma had in fact guarded the Thousand Sunny as a final mission.

"It would make sense," Sabo murmured, more to himself than anyone else. Several of the Straw Hats glanced at him. "He was a leading member of the Revolutionary Army," the blond dragon fruit user said in a louder voice. "It was perfect opportunity for us to have someone that close to the World Government, but they had started modifying him bit by bit." He had felt the loss of Kuma just as strongly as Dragon and Ivankov had. "By the time of the war at Marineford, he had already been fully modified."

"Right." Franky nodded. "Apparently, he had Vegapunk program him to protect the Thousand Sunny until one of us got back to the ship, as a favor to us and to Dragon."

So really, what had been them getting torn apart had been Kuma saving them. He had known that they wouldn't be able to survive beyond this point two years ago. It was thanks to him that they were now stronger than ever. And also…

"I wouldn't have been able to save Ace-nii-chan if he hadn't done that," Luffy whispered. That realization startled every one of them, including Ace himself.

Sure, it had been Garp who had sacrificed himself to save Ace, but had Luffy not been there… "We all owe him a lot," the flame fruit user murmured.

"We do, but if we do run into him again. He'll be a heartless human weapon," Franky concluded, at which Sabo quickly back away from the group and left the aquarium.

Ace quickly noticed his brother's departure, as did Luffy. With a glance to each other they got up and followed Sabo out onto the deck. There was a lot they could probably say to the blond, but words weren't what he needed right now. Instead, they sandwiched him between them with a hug from each side.

"It wasn't supposed to happen," Sabo whispered out, unshed tears in his eyes. "He wasn't supposed to join the Shichibukai." That mission was supposed to have been… "I was supposed to go, but he took the spot for me."


	20. In to the Depths

Ace was at a loss for words while Luffy seemed to stare off into the distance, a fierce scowl on his face. He had hated Kuma once, and while that had been during the time when he had been under the perceived notion that the giant of a man had killed his Nakama. Now, though, with the news from Franky at just how much they owed to the former Revolutionary, he could only feel angry for Kuma. Angry for him, and so very thankful to him. He had saved their lives, protected the Sunny and even took on a very dangerous mission in Sabo's stead. "We'll do everything we can to help him, Sabo." That was even if there was any way of restoring Kuma's mind to his body.

Ace glanced at Luffy over the top of Sabo's head, currently barren of its usual dark top hat. The rubbery captain was having one of his very rare moments of thoughtfulness, rather, he was fully thinking things through than blazing through on instinct. Maybe it was more of he didn't care about what happened to himself, but he would move heaven and earth for every single one of his Nakama, consequences be damned. "Leave it to you to say the seriously deep and thoughtful things." He gave a faint smile, one that even Sabo tearfully joined in on, while reaching over to knock the straw hat aside and ruffle Luffy's hair.

Sabo stiffened suddenly and stood up a little straighter, his gaze on something in the distance behind them. With a small touch of Kenbun-shoku Haki he outright scowled and nudged his way out of his brothers' embrace. "Guys, we have trouble." He spun on his heel and stuck his head into the aquarium to look at the gathered Straw Hats. "There's a ship following us and they're gaining speed. We need to prepare in case they mean us any harm."

As soon as the words left his mouth there was a flurry of movement and the Straw Hats all rushed out of the aquarium to join the three brothers out on the deck. There wasn't a clear view of the ship behind them, but they knew well enough that this was no joke. The ship was still a little ways above them too, and Usopp rushed to the stern railing to get a better look of their tail and the crew on board it.

"They don't look friendly!" he cried out, adjusting the binoculars he had minutely. "I don't recognize them."

"What's that pulling the ship?" Robin asked, a brow arched as she observed what appeared to be a giant sea cow.

"MOOOOOOOOOOHH!" the sea cow roared as it and the ship it pulled closed in on the starboard side of the Thousand Sunny, close enough that the bubbles enclosing both ships were nearly touching.

Sabo and Ace were the first to move, jumping down onto the lower main deck of the Sunny, as this was a tactic that they were familiar with. "They're going to try and board the ship!" The brunet called out, dark blue flames crackling to life on his skin. This resulted in the air immediately heating up and then quite suddenly a cold burst of water poured down on him, surprisingly extinguishing the flames.

Nami joined them, her Climatact in hand and a cross look on her face. "Fire uses up oxygen! You're going to use up all of the air in our bubble and suffocate us all or worse!" she yelled, giving the Fire fruit user a pointed look.

"Oh, right…" Ace grinned weakly while Sabo groaned and gave a shake of his head.

"That means no fire moves for you either, Sanji!" Nami snapped out, gathering the attention of the blond chef who swooned.

"Nami-sw-ack!" Sanji rubbed the back of his head and turned to glare at Zoro who just so happened to be next to him, looking out at the sea cow with a curious expression on his face. "What was that for, moss-for-brains?!"

"Because you're not focusing," Zoro growled out, glancing at the chef from the periphery of his right eye. "Doesn't that cow look familiar?" he added, to throw Sanji's attention off of him.

"It's Mohmoo!" Nami gasped, recognizing the all too familiar sea cow as the former pet of Arlong and his pirates.

Mohmoo turned to look at the person who called out his name and stared at the orange-haired woman for a full minute. In the meantime, someone had crossed over through the bubbles and more were getting ready to follow. Mohmoo finally recognized Nami and turned his frightened gaze to the rest of the crew, recognizing another two distinct faces that he would never, ever forget.

"Oh no you don't." Sabo moved as fast as lightning, sending a Busō-shoku Haki infused punch at the man, as a standard attack, that sent him flying back through the bubbles and onto his own ship. It was right in that moment when Mohmoo gave out a terrified cry and hauled the other ship away from the Sunny while the crew manning the other vessel cried out for the sea cow to stop.

"That certainly went well," Robin commented with a smile, having taken up her usual seat on the stern mid-level deck. She brought out her newest book and opened it up to begin reading for as long as they still had light.

"We should have expected something like that," Franky tossed in, lumbering his way down to the main deck so he could take up the helm.

"I can't believe Mohmoo was all the way out here," Nami mused as she joined the cyborg shipwright at the helm and studied the Log Pose on her wrist.

"I never did get to see what he tasted like." Luffy sighed and dropped down onto the grass of the built in lawn, his stomach immediately growling. "Hey, Sanji, cook us something!"

Sanji, who had been tearing into Zoro for once again hitting him on the back of the head stopped mid-rant and turned to stare at his captain in something akin to shock. "Didn't you eat already?!"

Luffy, who was now looking at the chef upside down, blinked and gave a grin. "I had a snack, but I'm still hungry. I want meat!"

"Actually, I could use a little something to eat and it's been a long time since I've had anything as good as your food, Sanji-san," Ace cut in to prevent the chef from blowing a blood vessel over Luffy's unending hunger. "I'm sure we could all do with a little something to eat."

Sabo, who knew that both Ace and Luffy had insatiable appetites glanced at the elder brunet with a questioning look. "Have you actually learned portion control?" he asked in a low mutter.

"Er, no?" Ace had never had to worry about running out of food before, especially with how large the stores had been on the Moby Dick. In comparison, the Sunny was much smaller, and now there were eleven mouths to feed—that was if the skeletal Brook was still capable of eating. "We should…"

"I'll make a snack for everyone, but that's it," Sanji announced, unintentionally interrupting the conversation Sabo and Ace were having. "We have eleven people and limited food storage on the Sunny. Thankfully we are fully stocked right now, but we need to keep in mind that we can't have a feast for every meal." That wasn't counting the fact that they could continually fill up the aquarium with catches from the sea, but he wanted to stress the importance of portion control now. "Also, with the new recipes I learned, it won't be necessary to have such large meals," he added, eying a now morose Luffy.

"Money will also eventually be an issue if we don't watch how much we eat," Nami called out in a tone of warning, one that the original Straw Hats knew very well.

"Fine," Luffy groaned out and rolled over onto his stomach.

"Hey, Nami…" Usopp joined the navigator and the shipwright at the helm, glancing around the now clear outside of the bubble before looking at Nami's Log Pose. "Are we heading in the right direction? We're a little off course according to the Log Pose."

Sabo, interested in the conversation and being a bit of a navigator himself walked over to join in. "Actually, how we're going is fine."

"Exactly," Nami said with a smile. "There's a whole bunch of currents down here, and if we get caught in the wrong one…"

"We'd be smashed against an underwater mountain, and if my count is correct, we have six devil fruit users and five…uh non-fruit users in the crew." Sabo watched as confusion etched onto their faces while they mentally counted the crew members.

"Luffy, Ace, Chopper, Robin and Brook makes five… Who is the…" Nami frowned and stared at Sabo before she quickly gasped in realization. "You're a fruit user too!?"

"Wait, what?" Usopp looked from Nami to Sabo and then proceeded to stare at the blue-clad blond as well. "What is your fruit power?"

"Sabo has a devil fruit?" Luffy asked, scrambling up from the deck while Ace watched on in curiosity. Zoro was paying no mind while Sanji had gone off to cook food, so he was missing out on this conversation.

"Er… Yeah. I do have a devil fruit power." Sabo looked a little sheepish now and smiled weakly. "But that's not important right now! We should be putting on coats because it's… Wait… Ace, can't you heat up the air in the bubble without using the oxygen up?"

Nami, who had been smart enough to already put on a coat, shook her head to answer the question for the elder brunet male. "I rather not risk losing any air in our bubble just to keep us warm enough that we don't have to wear coats. It will get really cold down there, but if you really don't want to… I guess you could always cuddle with him?" She said it teasingly, and watched as Ace went beet red while Sabo sputtered and Luffy clung to Ace.

"I'll wear a coat." Sabo left them to go into the men's quarters and fetch coats for the male members of the crew.

"Hey… I want to see Sabo's devil fruit power," Luffy pouted, disappointed that Sabo was keeping it a big mystery.

"In due time, Luffy," Ace stated while he dragged the rubbery captain away so Nami could finish explaining the undersea currents. They headed up to the prow of the ship where there was a strange and wonderful sight to behold. Within the depths of the water, and descending much further down, it looked like a huge waterfall. "We've reached the downward current plume!" he called out, just as Nami had begun to explain Saline Density to Usopp, and Chopper who had wandered up.

"Oh wow!" Chopper ran to the rail and pulled himself up to get a look at it. "It looks like a giant waterfall!" There was something more though, that he spotted, and he gave a shriek of terror when he saw it. "MONSTER!"

"M-m-monster?!" Usopp stammered out and crept up to the railing to peek over it. He too screamed when he caught sight of it and bolted.

Sanji, who had finally finished making snacks for the crew, nearly dropped the plates he was carrying as he came out of the kitchen only to be greeted with the sight of a legendary Kraken. Luffy was whooping with joy and clinging to Ace, having climbed halfway onto his shoulders. Usopp and Chopper were running in circles on the lawn deck, screaming their heads off while Nami and Franky stood at the helm, frozen in place. Brook was cowering off by himself while Robin sat there calmly in her seat and read her book. The plates were set down on her table while he noted that Zoro had drawn his meito Shuusui and had a feral grin on his face.

"I've just had a great idea!" Luffy cried out, a large grin that meant trouble for them on his face. "Let's make that thing our pet!"


	21. The Kraken and the Pirates

Ace had expected that exact statement to leave Luffy's mouth, but he hadn't been prepared for the overly dramatic reactions of their crew mates. Usopp and Chopper were both screaming their heads off and running about the main deck. It was almost pathetic.

"What did you just say, Luffy?!" Usopp had finally stopped running around, utter horror on his face as he looked from the gigantic Kraken to his Captain.

Luffy grinned wide. "Let's tame that big octopus and have him pull our ship!"

Ace couldn't disagree with that thought, but to tame the Kraken would require fighting it. To do that, they would need to use Instant Flutter-Kick Coating, which Rayleigh had the forethought to supply them with. He didn't say anything just yet, instead sliding his gaze to Sabo who was also observing Luffy and his crew mates. It seemed he also had the same idea.

"Don't be stupid!" Ace's gaze went back to Usopp at this exclamation and a deep frown marred his face when the sharpshooter had the nerve to grab Luffy by his jaw. "Look a-"

"Let him go, Usopp," Ace interrupted with a tone of warning, a steely glint in his eyes. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch him as he walked over to join Luffy at the starboard rail, his gaze remaining on the sharpshooter.

Usopp was at a loss for words, his mouth opening and then closing several times in succession as he tried to think of something, anything to say. He did do as he was told and backed away from Luffy by several steps, his fear of the Kraken momentarily forgotten in lieu of Ace's almost threatening countenance.

"He didn't mean anything by it, Ace…" Luffy nearly whined, honestly not bothered by Usopp having grabbed him.

"It was disrespectful and rude." Ace glared in Usopp's direction for a moment then turned to look out at the Kraken. "And having the Kraken tamed and getting it to pull the Sunny would be smart. We could get to Fishman Island much quicker that way."

"And how would we be able to tame it? We can't attack it from within the Sunny's coating." Nami, one of the two original voices of reason, spoke up, a trace of concern and worry on her face. It was likely due to Ace having snapped at Usopp.

"Instant Flutter-Kick Coating. It's a coating that acts like a diving suit, and I know Rayleigh-san gave us some." Ace only received confused looks from the Straw Hats, with the exceptions of Robin and Franky. He figured that Robin had likely read about it and Franky had been told about it due to him being the Sunny's shipwright.

"There's some cans of it down below," Franky mentioned, only to have said cans set at his feet by Sabo. "Oh look, here they are. Thanks, man!"

"I figured we'd need them once Luffy started talking about taming that thing." Sabo shrugged it off, and the fact that no one had noticed him leave the deck to go below for the cans of coating.

"I wanna go out!" Luffy started bouncing up and down on the spot, the wide grin back in its place on his face while he stared out at the Kraken.

"Luffy, it's…" Ace paused and frowned. Luffy wasn't going to take no for an answer, and would go out despite the danger of having bubble the coating would create popping. He knew that he couldn't go out himself, since his fire abilities would eat up the oxygen in his own bubble. "Just remember that you're underwater, okay?"

"We'll go out too," Zoro said as he stepped forward with Sanji in tow. The cook looked a bit put out by being volunteered when it was likely he'd have offered to go out as well, but he didn't say anything about it.

"That should be enough people to tame the Kraken," Sabo announced, having refrained from offering to join them for nearly the same reason as Ace. His own fruit ability wasn't suitable for underwater fighting, at all, even though he could use Buso-shoku Haki. It would only slow down the effects of the water, not stop it completely. And like Ace, he knew that it was impossible to tell Luffy no.

It took several minutes to get the three of them enveloped in the Instant Flutter-Kick Coating. In that time Luffy hadn't stopped bouncing around for even a second, which is why it had taken so long to apply the coating. Luffy had broken a few of his bubbles. Ace was getting ready to give Luffy a rope to use as a lifeline, but before he could even open his mouth all three coated crew members shot through the Sunny's coating and out into the open ocean.

His heart felt like it shot up in his throat once the realization hit him, and he ran to the starboard railing, rope still in hand. Sabo was quick to join him. "LUFFY!"

"YOU CAN'T GO OUT WITHOUT A LIFELINE! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT BACK!" Nami yelled after them as she came up on Ace's opposite side. "Can one of you go after them?" She turned to Ace and Sabo, her question directed to them. They had the most experience with diving.

"I can't," Ace admitted softly, for once wishing he hadn't eaten the Mera Mera no Mi.

"I'll do it. I'm a Zoan, so as long as I don't transform I'll be fine." Sabo put a hand on Ace's shoulder and squeezed gently. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything too reckless."

In the time that it took to get Sabo enveloped by a bubble of Instant Flutter-Kick Coating Luffy had already reached the Kraken. He immediately inflated his right arm to the size of a giant's, which exposed nearly his entire arm to the ocean water. It quickly took on black color, signifying that Luffy was using Buso-shoku Haki.

The Kraken watched Luffy with narrowed eyes, then seemed to glare at the rubbery captain that was invading upon him. It started to reach out a tentacle to grab its target, using the pause in Luffy's attack to its advantage.

"Urghhh… The sea… Is draining… My energy…!" Luffy tried to move his arm, but was momentarily immobilized by the water working against him.

Sanji was quick to notice what was happening and without a thought on the matter he dashed straight out of his bubble. The crushing pressure of the water was absolutely nothing as he moved at speeds that rivaled even a Fishman's. As he closed in on the tentacle that was heading for Luffy he ignited his right leg, using his Diable Jambe, and delivered a punishing kick to the larger section of the tentacle. The surrounding area of the monstrous limb blackened with marks crisscrossing over the skin of the tentacle and Sanji grinned at himself. He hadn't been sure that the move would work underwater, but now he had confirmation.

This angered the Kraken, and he began to swing an uninjured tentacle in Sanji's direction. Zoro, who was actually within range of this new limb struck at a blindingly fast speed with his swords. The limb was removed and sliced into long ribbons almost instantaneously, but what was miraculous was that Zoro's bubble of coating did not pop.

"Hold it, Zoro! Sanji! Stop chopping off its tentacles!" Luffy grit his teeth and forced his arm to start moving. He couldn't let the Kraken get too badly hurt, and if it lost more tentacles then it wouldn't be able to pull the Sunny. "Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun!" His arm stretched as he put everything into his attack. It took all he had to throw the punch, and when it connected he sent the Kraken flying. That wasn't all. "A shark?!" Luffy grinned and eyed the shark that had come out of the Kraken's mouth while Zoro and Sanji came up next to him.

"That's a pretty big shark," Zoro commented as he sat in his bubble, swords resheathed.

"Is that shark wearing clothes?" Sanji seemed to be the only to notice this, because Luffy certainly hadn't brought it up.

"Guys, you really need your lifelines," Sabo stated in a chiding tone as he came up behind them. He had three extra ropes with him and started to move closer to the three to give them the ropes when it happened.

The Kraken had been holding on to the edge of the precipice when Luffy had sent it flying. Now the creature was loose and being sucked downwards by the waterfall-like downward plume. The shark, which seemed to be unconscious, was dragged down after it, and lastly were Luffy, Zoro and Sanji.

"Luffy!" Sabo tried to reach for his brother, for any of them, but it was too late. He could vaguely hear Ace screaming for Luffy from the Sunny, as well as the cries for Zoro and Sanji. Sabo didn't even notice that he was being dragged back onto the Sunny by a desperate Ace and Franky. He went sprawling onto the main deck as he passed through the Sunny's coating, which took away his Instant Flutter-Kick Coating.

"Everyone hold on! We're going after them!" Nami announced as she raced to the helm. She angle the rudder for them follow after their crew mates and Captain. It didn't take too long for them to enter the downward plume themselves, the extremely powerful current tossing them about like they were rag dolls.

Down, down and down they went, until the Sunny slowed considerably and a near pitch black darkness surrounded them. There was a glimmer of faint glowing spots around them, spots that moved around in the vast darkness. Just about everyone had been thrown around, save for Nami who had clung to the helm, Ace and Sabo who were still at the starboard rail and had clung to that, and Robin who had used her Hana Hana no Mi powers to keep herself steady.

"I can't seem to find them," Robin stated in a slightly worried tone.

"I can still sense them." Sabo moved away from the starboard rail and looked up out into the darkness. His pupils became more slitted as he did an extremely controlled transformation. Even with his enhanced sight he could barely make out anything here in the depths of the Grandline. "I can't see them," he admitted after a long moment of searching, a frown marring his face as he noted several large indistinguishable shapes.

"I have a light function built in to my body," Franky offered once he had regained his footing. Within seconds two lights pierced the gloom, making Sabo wince slightly at their brightness. "Nipple Lights!"

The blond shielded his currently sensitive eyes before turning away from the lights while Usopp asked what kind of place was that to put lights. Considering that Franky was a self-made cyborg he could sort of understand. Given how Franky thought, it totally fit in with his personality. "Guys…. We're surrounded." He stated as he looked back out into the still mostly dark waters. Franky's nipple lights helped him to see a bit better, and the massive shapes he had noticed before were more clearly defined.


End file.
